The Qur'an and its Readers Worldwide

Today, Arabic-speaking Muslims, in whose tongue the Qur'an was revealed, make up no more than twenty per cent of the world Muslim population. This volume explores the endeavour by Muslims using diverse languages and from different regions to explain the meanings of the Qur'an. It introduces Qur'an commentaries and translations from the twentieth century to the present day, ranging across the regions of the traditional Islamic heartlands to the new loci of global Islam. Chapters examine works in Malay, Chinese, Urdu, Swahili, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Bosnian, German, and English, each viewed in terms of the impact of modernity on the encounter with the Qur'an. This book examines defining trends in Qur'an commentary worldwide, addressing questions of authorship, message, intended readership and media of communication. It looks at the continued relevance of Qur'an commentary as an authoritative Islamic tradition in a period of growing direct individual engagement with the sacred text. It also highlights debates concerning Qur'anic meaning in translation that are pertinent for many millions of Muslims, and which look set to grow in tandem with globalisation. Situating Qur'anic commentarial texts in their cultural and national settings, the volume focuses attention on the relationship between language, culture and socio-political environment in Qur'an commentary and translation. It highlights the linkages between texts as well as the developments and debates which generated them, and to which they respond, whether associated with colonial realities, the challenges of nation building, or the search for ways to reconstruct Islamic culture in the face of new legal frameworks or societal models.