Turkish

Qur’an translation of the week #168: The Turkish afterlife of a global scholar: Muhammad Hamidullah’s French Qur’an translation in Turkish

Aziz Kur’an is a Turkish Qur’an translation based on Le Saint Coran by Muhammad Hamidullah. Producing such a translation of a translation is an unusual decision given that there are already dozens of Qur’an translations on the Turkish market from the original Arabic. It speaks to the renown and appeal of this illustrious and prolific …

Qur’an translation of the week #168: The Turkish afterlife of a global scholar: Muhammad Hamidullah’s French Qur’an translation in Turkish Read More »

Qur’an translation of the week #160: The Turkish Diyanet’s Foreign-language Publishing Projects

The Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, usually known simply as the Diyanet) was established in 1924 by the nationalist government of the newly emerged Turkish Republic. Initially a secular institution of, it has undergone a continual process of transformation throughout the almost one hundred years of its operation as it adapts to …

Qur’an translation of the week #160: The Turkish Diyanet’s Foreign-language Publishing Projects Read More »

Qur’an translation of the week #150: An ‘anti-capitalist’ translation: Yaşayan Kur’an (‘The Living Qur’an’) by Recep İhsan Eliaçık

In February 2023, a court in Istanbul ruled that the distribution and sale of the Turkish translation of the Qur’an authored by Recep İhsan Eliaçık (b. 1961) would no longer be permitted. The case was brought by Diyanet, the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs, on the basis of legal powers it acquired in 2019 to …

Qur’an translation of the week #150: An ‘anti-capitalist’ translation: Yaşayan Kur’an (‘The Living Qur’an’) by Recep İhsan Eliaçık Read More »

Qur’an translation of the week #149: ‘God’s command’: A milestone in early Turkish Republican Qur’an translation

In 1934, the Islamic scholar, writer and journalist Ömer Rıza published a pioneering Turkish Qur’an translation-cum-commentary entitled Tanrı Buyruğu (‘God’s Command’) in Istanbul. Appearing five years after the Turkish Republic’s script reform, which abolished the use of the Arabic script, Tanrı Buyruğu was probably the first Turkish Qur’an translation to be printed in Latin script …

Qur’an translation of the week #149: ‘God’s command’: A milestone in early Turkish Republican Qur’an translation Read More »

Qur’an translation of the week #124: The Muslim World League as a Publisher of Qur’an translations

The Muslim World League (‘Rābiṭat al-ʿĀlam al-Islāmī’, MWL) officially came into being on December 15, 1962. This global Muslim organization, which has its headquarters in Mecca, remains one of the most influential transnational Islamic institutions and has realized many different goals, from the cultural and religious to the political. Fifty years on from its establishment, …

Qur’an translation of the week #124: The Muslim World League as a Publisher of Qur’an translations Read More »

Qur’an translation of the week #120: Back to recitation- a German interlinear translation and its pitfalls

In 2020, a nondescript self-publisher in Turkey issued a colour-coded interlinear word-for-word translation of the Qur’an into German with the (not very idiomatic) title Quran Wort zu Wort Übersetzung. Since it was the first of its kind, and still remains unique, it seems to have gained a certain popularity among German-speaking Muslims, especially those who …

Qur’an translation of the week #120: Back to recitation- a German interlinear translation and its pitfalls Read More »

Qur’an translation of the week #109: The Turkish ‘Path of the Qur’an’ (‘Kur’an Yolu’)

In the early 2000s, the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs (TDRA, usually known as ‘Diyanet’) expanded its publication of translations of the Qur’an by, for the first time, adding Turkish to the many languages it had previously focused on. After the first modern ‘institutional’ TDRA translation into Turkish was published in 2001 (‘Kur’an-i Kerim Meali’ …

Qur’an translation of the week #109: The Turkish ‘Path of the Qur’an’ (‘Kur’an Yolu’) Read More »

Qur’an translation of the week #94: “In the darkest hours of night Thou flashest the light”- Nejmi Sagib Bodamialisade’s “The Gouran Versified” and Muslims in British Cyprus

Qur’an translation as propaganda: war alliances and nation-building (2/3) In the period between the two world wars, Nejmi Sagib Bodamialisade (1897–1964), a Muslim in Cyprus, an oft-forgotten corner of the British Empire, started translating the Qur’an into English verse in order to gain British support for Muslim Cypriot interests. His translations of segments of the …

Qur’an translation of the week #94: “In the darkest hours of night Thou flashest the light”- Nejmi Sagib Bodamialisade’s “The Gouran Versified” and Muslims in British Cyprus Read More »

Qur’an translation of the week #86: ‘Kur’an Časni’- one of the earliest Qur’an translations in Yugoslavia

One of the most populous Muslim areas of Europe, former Yugoslavia played quite a significant role in the development of Muslim revivalism and activism in the Eastern European context. This is reflected in the fact that one of the first Muslim translations of the Qur’an into the local language, ‘Kur’an Časni’ (‘The Holy Qur’an’), appeared …

Qur’an translation of the week #86: ‘Kur’an Časni’- one of the earliest Qur’an translations in Yugoslavia Read More »

Qur’an translation of the week #49: “Kur’an-ı Kerim ve Türkçe Açıklamalı Meali”: A Saudi Edition of a Popular Translation into Turkish

Although there are many translations of the Qur’an into modern Turkish, Kur’an-ı Kerim ve Türkçe Açıklamalı Meali is of special interest. Prepared by a team of scholars on the initiative of the Muslim World League (MWL) and first published in 1982, this is a collective work rather than the more traditional individually-authored translation that comprise …

Qur’an translation of the week #49: “Kur’an-ı Kerim ve Türkçe Açıklamalı Meali”: A Saudi Edition of a Popular Translation into Turkish Read More »