HUMSS - Elmira Akhmetova

Translations and Commentaries of the Qur’an among Tatars in Imperial Russia

In this presentation, I would like to describe my research project on the historical, socio-political and linguistic dimensions of Qur’anic translations and exegeses written by Tatar Muslim minorities living in Imperial Russia up to 1917. By the end of the 19^th century, the Russian Empire had a Muslim population of more than fourteen million (constituting at least eleven per cent of the total population) mainly concentrated in the regions of Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Volga-Urals. The movement for understanding the particular verses of the Qur’an based on modern realities and socio-cultural context was a part of local Islamic movement for regeneration (in Russian jadidism and in Tatar jadidçelek) led by the Kazan Tatars. Hence, my presentation focuses on two fundamental issues. First, what were the main motives for the emergence of this movement for understanding the meaning of the Qur’an among Tatars in Imperial Russia? Second, what were the main distinguishing features of this particular movement in comparison to similar activities that happened in other parts of the Muslim world? To answer these questions, I will mainly focus on the thoughts and activities of Musa Jarullah (1873-1949) who contributed greatly to this activity.