Hebrew translation of the holy Qur’an. Palestine, 1936

What is it about?

At the center of the paper is Yosef Yoel Rivlin's Hebrew translation of the Qur’an – a philological and cultural project that involved various motivations and cultural concepts which charachterized and connected Zionist circles in Berlin, Jerusalem and Frankfurt. The paper examines this project, which started when Rivlin was a student of Josef Horovitz in Frankfurt in the early 1920s and ended in 1936 – and scrutinize the different cultural, social and political tendencies that stood at its basis. A unique attention is given to the cooperation between Rivlin and the prominent Hebrewpoet Haim Nachman Bialik, and to the place this project had within the Zionist Kinnus (=gathering) project. Thus, the paper contributes to the history of Oriental research in Germany and Palestine as well as to the understanding of modern Hebrew culture and its attitude towards Islam.

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Why is it important?

The paper sheds light on the place of the Qur'an and Arabic literature within prominent Hebrew-Zionist circles.