The trend towards embracing the Qur’an as the primary text of Islam in Muslim-majority countries like Indonesia has led to a notable emphasis on memorization (hifz al-Qur’an) over engagement in deeper contemplation of the scripture through the mediation of tafsīrs or translations. The recent upsurge in Qur’an memorization gained momentum in 2003 with the establishment of Pesantren Daarul Quran, a group of ‘traditional’ Islamic schools founded by Ustaz Yusuf Mansur, which was expanded nationwide in 2007 through the Daarul Qur’an Nusantara. In 2013, public interest surged further when the television program Hafiz Indonesia, a talent show for those who have completely memorized the Qur’an with celebrity hosts and respected Islamic judges, was broadcast during Ramadan. This general enthusiasm led to the rise of institutions like Rumah Tahfiz, which specialised in Qur’an memorization. The associated increased demand for physical copies of the Qur’an created market opportunities for publishers like Mizan, Gema Insani Press, Tiga serangkai, and Syamil-Sygma.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, while most publishing houses faced declining sales, a group of entrepreneurs founded alQosbah, a Qur’an-focused publishing company. The pandemic saw a heightened demand for Qur’anic engagement as people sought spiritual solace, and the Qur’an became a sought-after remedy for challenging times. AlQosbah, which focuses solely on producing Qur’ans, avoiding diversification into other book genres, has leveraged this positive momentum by consistently innovating in the design and content of its Qur’anic offerings. Their flagship products include hafazan Qur’ans, explicitly designed for memorization, which contain guidance from notable Indonesian Islamic scholars and hāfiẓs. Since its establishment in 2020, the company has distributed over ten million copies across Indonesia and neighbouring countries like Malaysiaand Brunei Darussalam, and in 2022, AlQosbah received the Innovative Quran Publisher Award from the Ministry of Religious Affairs’ Lajnah Pentashihan Mushaf Al Quran. Its products, available in various sizes and formats, aim to facilitate Qur’anic reading, and also provide translations to aid comprehension.
In Indonesia, the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) carefully regulates Qur’an translation practices to ensure accuracy and standardization. While MoRA’s official policies have resolved most translation-related challenges, publishers aiming to introduce new interpretations must navigate a detailed and time-intensive approval process overseen by Lajnah Pentashihan Mushaf Quran MoRA. AlQosbah adheres to these standards, incorporating MoRA’s required transliteration while introducing innovations like phonetic transliteration in its ‘Duo Latin’ edition, thereby making the Qur’an accessible to lay readers. AlQosbah’s standout products include Al-Qur’an Adventure, a rebranded interactive edition. This combines the official MoRA translation with visual and interactive elements, such as QR codes for animated stories and videos on every page. It also features 31 stories and 76 lessons or wisdom tales supported by ḥadīths, which enhances its appeal. These innovations are designed to cater to audiences, helping them to access and understand the Qur’an through multimedia resources. The translations also provide thematic subheadings and explanations alongside the MoRA translation which help provide a structured framework for understanding the verses. For example, the beginning of Sūrat Maryam contains the following subheadings: ayas 1–12 ‘The prayer of Prophet Zakariya asking for descendants’; ayas 12–15 ‘The appointment of Yahya as a Prophet’; ayas 16–21 ‘Maryam’s pregnancy’; and ayas 22–25 ‘The birth of Prophet Isa’, etc. Although these additional features do help guide the reader, the language in both the full translation and the word-for-word translations is still not entirely child-friendly, as the emphasis remains on ‘accuracy of meaning’, which can make the translations feel stiff and rigid.
The demand for printed Qur’an editions and the use of word-for-word translations of the Qur’an in Indonesia are driven at least by two main factors. First, with over 180 million Muslims in Indonesia, it is estimated that annual demand for printed Qur’ans runs to around 37 million copies, and many adult Muslims own more than one edition. However, current production is only about 7 million copies per year, and there is thus clearly a gap in the market to be filled. Second, public enthusiasm for learning and understanding the Qur’an has been growing, and it is this that has led to the recent rise in word-for-word translations, a move that has been supported by publishers involved in the Indonesian Qur’an Publishers Association (APQI).
At least ten publishers in Indonesia have created their own word-for-word translations, with several selling tens of thousands of copies. These translations, which gained market traction in around 2007, have helped many non-Arabic speakers become familiar with the meanings of specific individual Qur’anic words. However, this approach also presents the reader with a number of challenges. Word-for-word translations often adhere too closely to the source text, resulting in a very literal translation that cannot always capture the depth and nuance of the Qur’an’s meaning. These translations may help beginners understand the basic meaning of the Qur’an at the lexical level, but readers require additional guidance to enable them to grasp the Qur’an’s spiritual messages fully.
To this end, the official translations produced by MoRA employ a dual approach: literal translation for the simpler words and interpretative translationfor more difficult words, accompanied by footnotes and additional information in the main text in parenthesis. The general focus on the use of the ‘literal’ approach in some other translations has, however, led to concerns about the potential for distortion of meaning. For example, Muchlis M. Hanafi has illustrated the issue using an example from Sūrat Yūsuf, specifically Q. 12:78. The phrase shaykan kabīran in this verse, which is rendered as ‘lanjut usia’ (‘the elderly’ or ‘the very old’) by MoRA in its translation has been divided into two separate lexical items in some word-for-word translations (specifically here those published by Sygma and Kalim/Maghfiroh). These translations still interpret the phrase as ‘sangat tua sekali,’ i.e., ‘the old’ or ‘the very old,’ translating kabīran as ‘sekali,’ i.e., ‘once’ or ‘very,’ as using its actual meaning of ‘great’ or ‘big’ would result in an awkward interpretation: ‘the great old.’ However, in Arabic the term kabīr does not inherently carry the meaning of ‘very.’ This type of misinterpretation highlights the dangers of ‘word-by-word’ translation that at times does not fully or accurately reflect the Qur’anic meanings.
To avoid an overly rigid translation, Al Qur’an Adventure by alQosbah has attempted to combine the MoRa translation with footnotes and a word-for-word translation which is placed directly beneath the Qur’anic text, and which is based on the linguistic exegesis in Ibn Kathir’s tafsīr. Accordingly, for example, the phrase ṣibghata llāhi (Q. 2:138) in Al-Qur’an Adventure’s word-for-word translation omits the meaning ‘peliharalah’ (‘maintain’) found in MoRa’s translation and instead chooses to retain the Arabic as a loan word, without any translation or commentary. More connecting words also have been added and modified from MoRa’s original translation. For example, the word fīhi in the phrase dhālika l-kitābu lā rayba fīhi in Q. 2:2, is rendered as ‘into it’ in MoRa’s translation, but has been amended in the Al-Qur’an Adventure translation to ‘on it.’ According to Alqosbah, this adjustment enhances the comprehension and readability of the target text without compromising the core meaning of the Qur’anic source text.
Technology is nowadays integral to daily life, and spirituality and religious needs can be now addressed using digital tools. Creating innovative Qur’ans that cater to modern requirements is viewed by many as essential, ensuring relevant content and accessibility by using tools that simplify the reading and understanding process for users. Al-Qur’an Adventure is the first Qur’an edition in Indonesia to include stories from the Qur’an that are accessed using barcode technology, and these stories are also accompanied by valuable lessons and wisdom tales. Print editions of the Qur’an are designed with recitation and memorization in mind, and so each page features color blocks to assist with the memorization process. Al-Qur’an Adventure also use color codes to indicate tajwīd (the name given to the rules governing the correct pronunciation and recitation of the Qur’anic text), including features such as arrows indicating where to pause while reading, thereby helping readers regulate their breathing (tanāfus) while memorizing, and additional Latin transliteration. Now entering its fourth year of operations, al-Qosbah has quickly grown to be one of Indonesia’s most prolific publishers of Qur’an editions. With the tagline ‘Spreading the Qur’an to the World,’ al-Qosbah is now expanding its reach into the global arena, publishing translations of the Qur’an into several other languages, including English (using Yūsuf ‘Alī), French (Dr. Mohammad Hameed Ullah) German (Frank Bubenheim and Nadeem Elyas), and Dutch (currently in copyright negotiations) and Malay. The publisher also participated in the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2023 and 2024, which has opened up opportunities to distribute the Qur’an to countries like Tunisia and Spain, as well as other European nations. As a result of its comprehensive features, which provide the reader with various forms of support in understanding the Qur’anic text, Al-Qur’an Adventure deserves to be called a ‘one-stop Qur’an.’
Yulia Riswan
References
Hanafi, M.M. (2011), ‘Problematika Terjemahan Al-Qur’an: Studi pada Beberapa Penerbitan Al-Qur‘an dan Kasus Kontemporer’, Suhuf: Jurnal Pengkajian Al-Qur‘an dan Budaya Islam, 4:2, 181–198.