Note: This inquiry has been divided into two questions. See "Question: Transliterating Arabic" for the answer to the second part.
I'm editing a book for publication in the spring on US torture and empire-building at home and abroad. Two questions about transliterating Arabic have come up, particularly the political connotations of each choice. I would be grateful to any insight you might provide.
First, al-Qaeda translates to English as "the foundation." This is how it appears on the Aljazeera website, for example. However, the New York Times treats it as the name of a formal organization, Al Qaeda. This seems wrong to me. Your thoughts?
Second, and this is painful: At one point the author details a typical "detainee-processing" at Abu Ghraib, which includes a forced rectal exam. This is the only thing that is typically said in Arabic to those captured by the US military: Wa' all'an lill act el amptihan! (trans. And now for the ass inspection!) Naturally, I'm especially concerned about the accuracy of this transliteration, particularly the breaths. Please advise, if you would.
"Al" is the definite article in Arabic. Conventionally in Semitic languages, the article is written as part of the word with which it is associated, with no hyphen or spacing intervening (e.g., alqaeda). However, the word would be properly alphabetized without the article. The usage of a hyphen and lower case article when transliterating (e.g., al-Qaeda) is the most common form, but there there isn't really a right or wrong answer, so long as you are consistent.
If the press you are writing for uses a particular style manual, this topic will likely be covered, and you should follow its guidance.
This can further be supported with a tidbit from this Website:
"Capitalisation: capitalisation of "bin" in Arabic names would logically follow in-house capitalisation rules for "von" (German) or "du" (French). Logically, "abu" and "abd al-" require the same treatment as "bin"."
There is also a good discussion on Wikipedia regarding the transliteration of al-Qaeda.