AL-QUR’AN IN EUROPE AND RUSSIA _DR WAN JAMALUDDIN_

8/12/2019 AL-QURAN IN EUROPE AND RUSSIA _DR WAN JAMALUDDIN_

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AL-QURAN IN EUROPE AND RUSSIA: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON EARLY

DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRADITION OF RUSSIAN ORIENTALISM

By:

Syaiful Anwar*and Wan Jamaluddin Z**

Abstract

Al-Quran has existed in ancient Russian Kingdom since the end of the 9th

century, then during the 11th16th centuries it became an object of study

among Russian Orientalists and got a new spirit in the 17th18th centuries

when some Russian Moslem scholars took a part in its translation (tarjamah)

and interpretation (tafsir). It was the Latino-Greeks translation of Al-

Quran in Byzantium that had attracted Russian people in the 9th10th

centuries, while in the next period (the 11th16th centuries) Al-Quran and

Quranic studies in Russia was developed by using and following the successstories of Western-European scholars such as Andrei Due Rie (15801660),

who translated Al-Quran into French in 1647, and George Sheile (1697

1736), who translated it into English in 1734. The interest in Al-Quran

reached its culmination in the 18thcentury when two editions of Al-Quran

and its translation (Petersburg and Kazans editions) by Mullah Usman

Ibrahim were successfully published in 1787 in Russia. Ever since, in Russia

Al-Quran had been studied and viewed from several aspects and

approaches: scientific, art as well as politico-religious approach.

Introduction

Even moslem in Russia regarded as a minority, Islamic heritage played a significant role in

the construction and development of the intellectual tradition of Russian Orientalists. Aside

from the field of science and history, it has been proved that Islamic heritage has also

contributed to the development of some other fields including arts, literature and philosophy

in Russia1. It could happen due to the intense contact between the two nations (Islamic-Arab

and Russian-Slav) since the era of Classical Islam up to the era of Islam in Middle Age2.

This article is not going to discuss the whole aspects mentioned above, yet to be focused on

the essential role of Al-Quran in the growth of intellectual tradition in Russia, particularly in

the field of Islamic Studies. To acquire a comprehensive analysis, it will also look into the

influence of West-Europe in the early process of growth of the intellectual tradition in the

Slavs.

Lecturer at State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Raden Intan, Lampung, Indonesia.

Lecturer at State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Raden Intan, Lampung, Indonesia.

1 See Wan Jamaluddin Z., Islamic Heritage and the Tradition of Russian Intellectualism. A paper

presented in the International Seminar of IAIN Raden Intan Lampung 2008 with the theme of Islam,

Politics, and Multiculturalism. It has also been publicized in the Komunitas the journal of the

Center of Social Service IAIN Raden Intan Lampung, Vol. 26 No. 2, December 2008 Ed.2 See Wan Jamaluddin Z., Getting to Know to the Tradition of Arabism in Russia: the Historical

Reflection on the Growth of Russian Intellectual Tradition in the 11-17th

Century in Al-Turas: the

Media of History, Literature, Culture and Religion. Vol. 12, No. 3, September 2006 Ed. Faculty of

Culture and Humanities of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, 2006, and republished in Dirasat: the

Journal of Islamic Studies and Civilization. Vol. 01, No. 01, 2006, Institute of Islamic Religion Al-Aqidah (IAIA), Jakarta, 2006


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According to Ye. A. Rezvan, a prominent Islamologist in Modern Russia, who is now the

Deputy Director of Kunstkhamer Anthropology and Ethnography Museum, in Russian

Academy of Sciences of Saint Petersburg and has devoted half of his life to analyze Al-

Quran, the Russians interest in and attention to Al-Quran has existed since long time ago

the era of ancient Russia (the 10

th

century). Nevertheless, a more serious and more focusedanalysis on Al-Quran prospered in the beginning of the 16thcentury until the 18

th century

3.

Another Russian Orientalists, S.M. Prozorov added that the interest in and analysis on Al-

Quran was growing along with the increase of the Russians curiosity about other Islamic

matters.4 In other words, the interest and attention of Russian towards Al-Quran is indeed

influenced by their interest in Islam as a whole.

As such, to get a better and more obvious frame of mind about the growth and development

of the analysis of Al-Quran in Russia, it is necessary to overview the history of Islamic

Studies tradition in Russia.

Islamic Studies in Russia

Islamic studies or the study of Islam in Russian terminology is called Islamofilstvo or

Islamovedeniyewhich means the Russian Orientalists scientific study on Islam as a religion,

a system of belief, or a product of human culture along with all of its aspects. While

Islamofilstvo generically means the tendency, love or sympathy towards Islam,

Islamovedeniye is often referred to the academic-scientific activities in expressing those

positive feelings5. The study on Al-Quran in Russia initially appeared in this way and kept

progressing. Thus, to put it in another way, the study on Al-Quran is a part of the tradition ofIslamofilstvoandIslamovedeniye. S.M. Prozorov asserts that besides Sufism and Hadith, the

study on Al-Quran has been an interesting analysis object of Islamic Studies among the

Orientalists in Russia6.

It was strongly presumed that the scientific tradition which reflected the interest in and

attention to Islam was firstly showed by the royal family of the Russian kingdom. Prince D.

Kantemirs expertise in Orientalism is proved by his writings about Islam in his book written

in Latin entitled De Religione et Stata Imperia Turcici.7This book has been translated into

Russian in Petersburg, in 1722 by I. Ilyinskiy with the title Kniga sistema ili sastaniye

Muhamedanskiya Religiy (The System and Position of Islam)8.

According to I. Yu. Krachovsky, those two books up to now have become the major

references in Islamic studies in Russia. The 12 first chapters of the book contain the history of

Prophet Muhammad in the perspective of Russian Orientalists. In Russia itself, this book got

a lot of criticisms in the 19th century because it contains polemical treaties between the

3 Ye. A. Rezvan. Mir Korana (The World of Al-Quran). Branch Institute for Oriental Studies of

Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint-Petersburg, 2004. It is the writers magnum opus that has

received recognition in the Middle East.4 S.M. Prozorov in Predisloviye (the Foreword) in the book of Islam Istoriograficheskiyeocherki

(The Study on Historiography of Islam) edited by S.M. Prozorov, Moscow, 1991, p. 35 Interview with Prof. Dr. Olga Borisovna Frolova, Dept. of Arabic Philology, Faculty of Oriental

Studies, University of Saint Petersburg, Russia, March 25, 2002.6S.M. Prozorov, op.cit., p. 37I. Yu. Krachkovsky. Ocherki po istory Russkoi arabistiki(Some Remarks on the History of Arabism

in Russia). Saint Petersburg, p. 438 See the permit of publishing and publication issued by King Peter I for the translation works in

Ancient Russian language entitled Alkoran o Magomet ili Zakon Turetsky v Sankt Petersburgskoi

Tipografiy, 1716 godu, v mesyats Dekembri (Al-Quran about Muhammad or Turkish Constitution in

the Typography of Saint Petersburg, December 1716). For more information, see inIslam na territoriyIbid., Book 1, 1999, p.49.


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Byzantium and Islam9. This is understandable, according to A.D. Knysh, due to the fact that

the author got acquainted with Islam in Moldova and Turkey (Constantinople or Istanbul),

one of the hottest spots where the high tension between Islam and West existed.

Long before D. Kantemir, as a matter of fact, Maksim Grek a Russian scientist who lived in

Moscow in 1528-1556 had done a whole study on Islam. In this context, he highlighted therole of Turkish culture and Islamic civilization as well as various polemics affected by the

Byzantium tradition that were substantially inherited by Russian. Yet, his study was filled

with political motives in accordance with the political condition at that particular time, that is

the period of Russian expansion to Kazan Sultanate in Tatarstan (1552); therefore, it was

unsurprising to find out that his view was very subjective in that he discredited Islam and

favored Christianity10

.

In fact, not all of the early Russian Orientalism studies about Islam were tendentious or

negative in nature. We could find a more objective study on Islam carried out by another

Russian Orientalist, Ivashka Peresvetov, completely in contrast to that of D. Kantemir and

Maksim Grek. With his strong belief and high scientific spirit, he several times recommended

a la Turkish reformation package to Tsar Ivan Grozniy (1533-1584). He even overtly statedthat, Muhammad, the fighter, to me, is the truly ideal leader.

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In the meantime, there were also some scholars who were neither as extreme as Maksim Grek

who was too discrediting Islam nor like Ivashka Presvetov who very confidently favored

Islam. One of them is Andrei Kurbskiy (w. 1583) who moderately asserted that Islamic

civilization along with the culture of its followers (Arabic and Turks) could be employed as

objects of analysis and references both theoretically and practically.12

West-Europe and Quranic Studies in Russia

It was reported that the Holy Quran had been firstly found in the royal palace, in the private

library of Prince Vladimir to be exact, the former ruler or Russian-Kiev (Ancient Russia) notlong before the formalization of Orthodox Church as the official religion of the Russian

Kingdom in 988. One of the main sources of the Russian classical historiographies entitled

Povest Vremennikh Let reveals some facts of diversity and the atmosphere of socio-cultural

lives of Ancient Russia illustrated as the followers of paganism before determining to choose

Christianity as the official religion in the 10thcentury. It was also recounted that before the

formalization of Christian as the official religion of the Kingdom, Prince Vladimir guaranteed

freedom for his people to profess Islam. Further, during his reign there was a special envoy of

Abbasiyyah Caliphate of Baghdad to Russian Kingdom.13

Unfortunately, the author has not found accurate information about the name of the special

envoy and also the caliph of Baghdad who sent him. It was mentioned, however, that one of

the missions was to introduce Islam to the ruler of Russia, Prince Vladimir, who at that timewas searching for religion sources including Christianity, Judaism and Islam to be formalized

9I. Yu. Krachkovsky. Ocherki Ibid, pp. 42-43.10

I. Yu. Krachkovsky. op.cit., p. 22.11I. Yu. Krachkovsky. Ocherki po istory Russkoi arabistiki Ibid, pp. 23-24.12

Ibid., p.25.13

Povest Vremennikh Let(Story Lasting for Years) together with other early written form of tradition

(like Slovo o polku Igoreve, Izborniki, and others) until now is still used as the main references for

historical studies in Russia. See A. Fahrurrodji, Rusia Baru Menuju Demokrasi (New Russia towards

Democracy), Yayasan Obor: Jakarta, 2006. Pp. 20-23. See also A.P. Novoseltsev. Vostok v barbe za

religioznoye vliyaniye na Rusi(Oriental Countries and their struggle in affecting diversity in AncientRussia). Moscow, 1987.


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as the official religion of the paganish ancient Russia. It is likely that the presence of Al-

Quran for the first time to Russia was related to the context above.

Ye. A. Rezvan, a prominent Russian Orientalist, assumed that the interaction between the

Ancient Russian and Al-Quran has started since the 10thcentury or before considering the

findings of some previous research in which Al-Quran was already translated into AncientGreek in the beginning of the 9

th century. It refers to the research findings of E. Trapp

published in Athena in 1980-1981 entitled Gab es eine Byzantinische Koranubersetzung?

Further, Ye A. Rezvan asserts that there is another analysis which confirms the above

findings proposed by a Russian scholar named N.I Serikov in 1983, that is O ne katorikh

aspekta padkhoda kissleovaniyu Arabo-Byzantiyskikh atnosheniy 10-11 vv v svremennoi

zarubezhnoi istoriografy(Some aspects of approaches in analyzing Arab-Byzantium relation

in 10-11th century based on the latest historiographies). N.I Serikov as quoted by Ye A.

Rezvan stated that: perevodchik Korana na Grecheskiy yazik bil, po vsei vidimosti, bilingv

Arabskogo proiskhozhdeniya iz Latiinskokh oblastei imperiy (in general the translation

of Al-Quran into Greek is done bilingually: the original source of Arabic and another source

of Latin found in the area of Byzantium)14

The descriptive analysis proposed by Ye A. Rezvan is trying to assure us that the Ancient

Russian interacted with Al-Quran earlier than the Western and European world did.

However, it did not occur directly, but through the tradition of Ancient Byzantium around the

9thup to 10

thcentury by translating the Al-Quran into the Ancient Latin-Rome.

In short, we can say that it was the first interaction between the Russian and Al-Quran. At

this period of time, there was not any particular study of Al-Quran in Russia. The interest in

the study of Al-Quran surely did not come up in a sudden way. According to I. Yu.

Krachkovzky, the growth of the interest raised and developed along with the widespread of

information about Islam penetrating into the lives of Russian people due to the translation of

some Arabic literatures into Russian.15

Some of Arabic literatures which had been translated and subconsciously affected the growthof interest in Quranic studies in Russia were:

1. The Tale of Basarg, composed by an Arabic historian Ibn al-Hikam (the 9 thcentury). It was reflected in a poetic folk tale of Russian people entitled Bylina,

picturing the drifting ashore of a Russian princes boat, Bleb Volodyevich, in Tatar-

Arab land.

2. A classical Arabic literature of the 8th century about The Seven MagnificentYouths/Ashab al-Kahfi, which inspired the story of Sindbad Book about the

Womans Prayer Mat in the 16th century being introduced and translated into

Russian in the city of Moscow.

3.

The Wisdom and Good Example of Luqman al-Hakim, recognized and nowbecoming the source of Arabic lesson in Russia, thanks to Adam Oleariy for his hard

work.16

Apart from the art factor, a noted Russian Orientalist, Ye. A. Rezvan admits that Al-Quran

is something that holds a central position in Islamic philosophy and has played a very

important role for more than 14 centuries in coloring the human lives, including the Muslims

in Russia; a major role which is not owned by other Holy Books.17

In addition, he states that

14Quoted from Ye A. Rezvan, Koran I KoranistikaOp.cit.,p.9.15I. Yu. Krachkovsky. Ocherki po istory Russkoi arabistiki Ibid., p. 32.16

I. Yu. Krachkovsky. Ocherki po istory Russkoi arabistiki Ibid., pp. 32-33.17

Ye. A. Rezvan. Now as the Deputy Director of Anthropological and Ethnographical Museum ofPeter the Great Kunstkhammer in Saint Petersburg. The writer got an opportunity to have a short


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the Quranic studies in the tradition of Russian Orientalism which is commonly called

Koranistika comprises some aspects of studies such as history, codification, translation and

interpretation, arts and literature, and the printing and publishing of Al-Quran.18

A more serious analysis in carrying out Quranic studies appeared in the upcoming of the 18th

century, in the era of King Peter I, more renowned as Peter the Great (16821725). 19Nevertheless, unlike the growth of interest in Quranic studies in the early period of the 9

th

and 16th century, the interest in and attention to Quranic studies in the 17

th century was

interfered by the development taking place in the West-Europe.

It was started by the success of a French diplomat and Orientalist Andrei Deu Rie (1580

1660) who accomplished the translation of Al-Quran. Soon, other translations into different

European languages were made either in Paris or in Amsterdam. Not long after, the

translation was also done in England (1688), Holland (1698), then Germany and finally in the

Russia (1716) under the order of King Peter the Great.

It was true that the concern of King Peter I towards Islam was affected by the increase of

political and military escalation between the imperium of Russia and Ottoman Empire. That

was the mainstream of the Russian Orientalists perspective on Islam in 1716 by translating

Al-Quran completely into Russian in Saint Petersburg.20

This translation was done by Peter Postnikov by referring to the version of French translation

by Deu Rie (1647), which then triggered prolonged controversy question about the accuracy

of the translation.21

Thus, King Peter issued three political manifesto: first, about Turkey on

July 15, 1722; second, the Kings instructions on behalf of Sinoda on July 18, 1722 about

the order to carry out the translation of Al-Quran and anything about Muslim people into

Russian as soon as possible in the city of Astrakhan;22

and third, about the collection of

Arabic coins found in Kunstkhamera in 1745.23

The interest in and concern about Al-Quran among the Russian and European people,

especially in the later years was very much associated with the success of the translation of an

Arabic literature A Thousand and One Nights by Anthony Gallyane (16461715) which

contained, among others, the story of Napoleons expedition to Egypt. One of the great

achievements of Russian literature following the success above was the one written by M.

Gorki. He wrote the translation of it into Russian in 1796 in Smolensk. The translation edition

interview with him in his office when attending Maclay Readings Seminar in Saint Petersburg,

Russia on April, 2007.18 This terminology is commonly used in various Russian literatures about Al-Quran. See Ye. A.

Rezvan, Koran I Koranistika, in Islam Istoriograficheskiye Ocherki (Some Analysis on Islamic

Historiography) edited by S.M. Prozorov. Moscow, 1991, pp. 7-48.19See Wan Jamaluddin, Peter the Great and Russian Tradition on Arabism. In the journal of Glasnost,

Faculty of Cultural Science (FIB) University of Indonesia, Jakarta, 2008.20The latest work of Ye. A. Rezvan in this field entitled Mir Korana (The World of Al-Quran), Saint

Petersburg, 2003.21

I. Yu. Krachkovsky. Ocherki Ibid, pp. 31-34. Compared with A. Rezvan, Koran I Koranistika (Al-

Quran and Quranic Studies) in Islam Istoriograficheskiye Ocherki (Some Analysis on Islamic

Historiography), Moscow, 1991. Rezvans remarks about biases on Quranic studies by Western-

European scholars are very interesting to read, especially on pages 7-11.22Islam na territoriybivshei Rassiiskoi imperiy: Ensiklopedicheskiy slovar (Islam in ex-Russian

imperium: an Encyclopedia). Book I. Branch of Institute for Oriental Studies St. Petersburg. Academy

of Sciences, Russia, 1999, p. 48.23I. Yu. Krachkovsky. Ocherki Ibid, p. 42. Compared with Polnoye sabraniye zakonov Rassiiskoi

Imperii s 1649 g. (The Complete Compilation of The Russian Imperium Constitutions since 1649).

Tom (Book) V, 1713 1719. Pechatano (Published): 1830 c. 188-189. Chapter 2978; and N.A.

Vaskresensky. Zakonoatelniye Akti Petra I (The Official Document of King Peter I Constitution).Academy of Sciences, Soviet Union, 1945. Ukaz. 142, s. 112-113.


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of it done by Filatov consisting of 12 parts was firstly published in Moscow in 17631771

and was republished for four times (17761784, 1789, 1796, 1803).24

In short, besides Al-

Quran, the tale of A Thousand and One Nights was the sole most complete Arabic

literature which could be widely accessed by the Russian in the 18thcentury.

Then, the development of interest and study on Al-Quran in Russia kept growing in line withthe accomplishment a British Orientalist George Sheile (1697 1736) who publicized his

translation of Al-Quran into English in London city in 1734. There was a great change here

because he did the translation by referring to some Arabic interpretation books such as the al-

Baydawi Interpretation, the al-Zamakhshari Interpretation, and the Jalalayn Interpretation.

Within a few years, Sheiles work was then translated into some other European countries

starting from German (1746), French (1770), and finally Russian (1792).25

The concern about the Quranic studies regained its momentum when two editions of Al-

Quran (Petersburg and Kazan) with their translation were firstly published in the end of the

18thcentury. Upon the request and demand of Russian Muslim society as well as the political

tendency because of the war against Ottoman Empire, The Queen Chaterine II issued a royal

order to immediately publish Al-Quran in Arabic. According to Ye A. Rezvan, this projecthad a better stance compared to other works of the European scholars which were often bias

and tendentious influenced by the confrontation between Islam and the West (Europe). This

project was, even, chaired by a prominent Russian Ulema, Mullah Usman Ibrahim.26

Accordingly, these translations greatly affect not only the growth of Russian Orientalism

tradition but also the cultural history and civilization of Russia itself. It can be seen from how

the translation of Al-Quran by M.I. Verevkin (1790) inspired Aleksander Sergeyevich

Pushkin (17991837)27

in composing his work entitled Imitating Al-Quran.28

According to Ye. A. Rezvan, in his works A.S. Pushkin quoted at least 33 Quranic verses.

Besides, he seemed to be fascinated by the beauty of Al-Quran as reflected in his poetry

entitled The Prophet. The manipulation of the Quranic verses as what A.S. Pushkin did

unsurprisingly got wide acceptance and deep appreciation by Russian people.29 Nowadays,his poetries have been performed on the stage in the form of theatrical drama admired by

various community in Russia and other ex-Soviet Union countries in Mid-Asia, and also

overseas.

24Ibid., p. 57.25

Ye. A. Rezvan. Koran, Ibid., p. 1426Ibid., p. 1527

A.S. Pushkins expertise can be reflected from compliments given to him, like: Alexander Pushkin

has been identified as the father of Russian literature and composed in Russian during an era when

most Russian writers composed in French. The most distinguished Russian writers offer Pushkin

effusive praise. Feodor Dostoevsky wrote that, No Russian writer was ever so intimately at one with

the Russian people as Pushkin. Maxim Gorky wrote that, Pushkin is the greatest master in the world.

Pushkin, in our country, is beginning of all beginnings. He most beautifully expressed the spirit of our

people. I. Turgeniev wrote that, Pushkin alone had to perform two tasks which took whole centuries

and more to accomplish in other countries, namely to establish a language and to create a literature.

According to N.A Dobrolyubuv: Pushkin is of immense important not only in the history of Russian

literature, but also in the history of Russian enlightenment. He was the first to teach the Russian public

to read.28

Ye. A. Rezvan. Koran, Ibid., p. 15.29Ibid., p. 15.


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Therefore, to continue the success of the Russian Orientalists in the era of King Peter I,

Queen Catherine II (17621796) followed the steps of her predecessor, that was translating

the Islamic writings into Russian, especially the ones from French.30

The interest in and concern about Islamic world was very strong in this period. In 1787, in

Kalugh, Russia, a brochure about Islam written in French was translated and printed to bepublicized, it was A Short Melody about Arab. And also, in 1786, an article of His

Majesty Carlos Peer, Harun al-Rashid was published. Some years later (1797), some

anecdotes in the form of Remarks of Arabic Manuscripts were translated into German and

published. Even, P.P. Sumarokov, the editor of The Book of Scientists, Economists, and

Jurists paid a great attention to the issues of Islamic-Arabic Cultures. In his work,

particularly in the chapter of The Memory of The Prominent Figures of New Era (Modern

Century) History, P.P. Sumarokov wrote an article about: Abu Yusuf, An Islamic Jurist in

the early of 19thcentury; Abu Hanifa: A Noted Islamic Jurist and Theologian (1. 699); Abu

Raihan: An Islamic Astronomer of 11th century; and Mezuye: the doctor of Caliph

WatiBillah.31

Many popular journals in Russia also exposed some articles about Islam and Quranic studies.Lets take for an example, Aghlayu journal in 1794 expounded the writings about The

stages of the Caliph Abd al-Rahman during his reign.32

This story was very well-known

among the Russian until the era of Leo Tolstoy and Maksim Gorki. There were some

publications of Al-Quran. The Zherkala Sveta (The World Mirror) journal in 1786

expounded some articles: About Al-Quran and The Book of Scientists in 1793. Another

important publication was a book written by Peter Bogdanovich about Muhammad and Al-

Quran which was reprinted for three times.33

Conclusion

From the descriptions above, it is very obvious that while in the era of Ancient Russia (the

end of 910thcentury), the Holy Quran had got the attention from the royal family of Russian

Kingdom, and began to be studied during the 1116thcentury, it was in the 18

thcentury there

was a very strong interest in analyzing further about Al-Quran among the Russian, especially

in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan and Makhachkala.

Whereas in the early period (910thcentury) the interaction between the Ancient Russian with

Al-Quran preceded that of the Western-European due to the scientific tradition developing in

the Byzantium in the form of the translation of Al-Quran into Latin, in the next period (11

18thcentury) the Russians interest in and concern about Al-Quran was growing by following

the success of the Western-European in the form of translating Al-Quran pioneered by a

French Orientalist Andrei Due Rie (15801660) in 1647 and a British Orientalist George

Sheile (16971736) in 1734.

30The enthusiasm also occurred in the West-Europe for the success of Antoine Galland (1646-1715) in

translating the story of A Thousand and One Nights. See Rudi Paret. The Study of Arabic and Islam

at German Universities: German Orientalists since Theodor Noldeke. Steiner Weisbaden, Limburg,

Germany, p. 2 and Maksim Rodinson. Europe and the Mystique of Islam. Seattle and London:

University of Washington Press, 1991, p.6.31I. Yu. Krachkovsky. Ocherki po istory Ibid., pp. 61-62.32

The writer is experiencing difficulty to identify the figure Caliph Abd al-Rahman mentioned above

considering that there were five caliphs with the same name Abd al-Rahman in the Umayyah Dynasty

(138-422H/756-1031AD) in Andalusia, Spain. See Encyclopedia of Islam, WebCD edition, Brill

Academic Publishers 2003. It is not only caused by the incomplete information provided by the

referent, I. Yu. Krachkovsky, but also the writers difficulty in accessing directly the journal of

Aghlayu. I. Yu. Krachkovsky. Ocherki po istory Russkoi arabistiki Ibid., p. 62.33I. Yu. Krachkovsky. Ocherki po istory Russkoi arabistiki Ibid., p. 63.


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The Russians interest in and concern about Al-Quran gained its momentum when there was

a publication of two editions of Al-Quran along with their translation in Petersburg and

Kazan in the 18th century under the coordination of a Russian prominent Muslim figure

Mullah Usman Ibrahim in 1787. In this context, Al-Quran has become an object of multi-

dimensional analysis such as in the field of science, arts, literature and political religion.

AL-QUR’AN IN EUROPE AND RUSSIA _DR WAN JAMALUDDIN_

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