Najib Burhani: The Ahmadiyya Translation of the Qur’ān in Indonesia: Reception and Controversy

Описание: Najib Burhani, (Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities, BRIN): The Ahmadiyya Translation of the Qur’ān in Indonesia: Reception and Controversy

Despite the accusation of heresy, Ahmadiyya translations of the Qur’ān have been influential in the Indonesian community in the first half of the 20th century. Soedewo’s translation, for instance, was widely used by intelligentsia as a main source to know about Islam. Why did Ahmadiyya translations of the Qur’ān have a significant place in the Indonesian Muslim intelligentsia of the early 20th century? What was the appeal of these translations? What is the contribution of these translations to the study of the Qur’ān in this country? This paper argues that the success of Ahmadiyya translation during the revolution era is based on three reasons: language (Dutch is the language of intelligentsia), content (it fit with the need of intelligentsia who seek a harmonious understanding between religie and wetenschap), and form (the only available rendering of the Qur’ān in modern form of publication). In the context of ideology, the reception of Muslim intelligentsia was mainly for their contribution in defending Islam against the penetration of Christian missions and the coming of secular and atheistic ideologies.

The talk was part of the in-person workshop "Da'wa and Qur'an translation in the first decades of the 20th century", organized by GloQur: The Global Qur'an, at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, June 21-22, 2022.