Yakubovych, a Ukrainian Islamic studies scholar, has written a fascinating and masterful survey of the extraordinary achievements of Saudi Arabia’s Qur’an publishers. Most notably, the King Fahd Glorious Qur’an Printing Complex, established by royal decree in 1982, has printed hundreds of millions of Qur’ans and commentaries in book and audio format, a majority in Arabic but also translations in multiple language.

Until the mid-twentieth century, many Muslim scholars still opposed translating the Qur’an. For one, the word qur’an means “recitation” and for the pious reciting the Arabic text out-loud, as—it is believed—it was delivered to Muhammad remains the only true (and untranslatable) experience. For another, the meaning of the Qur’an is mediated by a centuries-old traditions of commentary and a translation of the Qur’an needs to be approved by qualified scholars. (Saudi scholars resolved the translatability issue were by casting the translations as of approved “meanings” of the Qur’an, rather than the Qur’an itself.)

Yakubovych explains how Saudi clerics, relying on Ibn Taymiya, argued for the value of translations as a tool of missionary work. While Qur’ans published in the kingdom have some theological diversity, the Ibn Taymiya’s influence, known as Salafist, dominates and endures. Qur’an publishing has served as “a powerful missionary tool” to reach both Muslims and non-Muslims.

Only recently have Saudi scholars engaged with such modern issues as Islam and science, violence in the name of Islam, relations with non-Muslims, religious freedom, and women’s rights. As Yakubovych reports, this encounter with modernity has led to adjustments of translations, such as softening or removing negative references to Jews and Christians in the first Sura (Sura 1:7), and adjusting the translation of the wife-beating verse (Sura 4:34). It is not clear, however, whether these should be seen as genuinely “liberal interpretations,” as Yakubovych posits, or a pragmatic effort to enhance the Qur’anic message.

The final paragraph of In The Kingdom and the Qur’an sums up the import of this undertaking: “Whether the works themselves are accepted or criticised, popularised or neglected, Qur’an translations published in Saudi Arabia or with Saudi support abroad now undoubtedly constitute the biggest contribution to the contemporary Muslim understanding of the sacred text of Islam at a global level.”

Mark Durie

Melbourne School of Theology