4 Forums Held on 2nd Day of Int’l Quran Festival in Moscow
“Introduction of New Translation of Quran in Russian”, “Investigation of Russian Quran Translations”, “Arts and Quran”, and “Evaluation and Analysis of the Russian Translation of Quran by Elmira Kuliyeva and Prokhova Valeria” were the titles of the forums.
Addressing the first forum, Nazim Zeynalov said that about 20 translations of the Holy Quran into the Russian language are known, but the new rendering is the first Shia translation of the Divine Book in Russian.
Two types of translation, word-for-word and semantic, have been used in the new edition, which took five years to complete.
Ayrat Bayshev, a speaker in the second forum, said that it was at the time of Russia's emperor, Peter, that the Holy Quran was first translated into Russian.
He added that the early Russian renderings of the Quran were done from English and French languages and the source language of the later versions was Arabic.
In the “Art and Quran” forum, Hojat-ol-Islam Sharabiyani said that the term 'art' is not mentioned in the Quran but it is inferred from the verses and that God is the greatest artist.
He highlighted the importance of arts and noted that the West applies visual arts to develop its intellectual-cultural, economic and political dominance over the world and the countries which do not pay attention to art.
Speaking at the fourth forum, Kheyruddin Abdullah said that the Quran translations by Elmira Kuliyeva and Prokhova Valeria into Russian reveal that the translators were influenced by the theological thoughts of Ibn Taymiyya and Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab and in some verses their translations are according to the Salafi theological thought.
The first edition of the international Quran festival in Moscow has been organized by the Iranian Cultural Center in Russia and Russia’s Muftiat Council in cooperation with some other Islamic centers and Institutes.
Moscow's Islamic Cultural Centre is hosting the one-week festival starting from July 11.
Religious scholars and translators from different countries including Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkey and India are participating in the Quranic event.
