The first ever edition of the Quran Latin translation published in 1543 — Milestone in the history of Christian-Muslim dialogue

Abstract

The article focuses on a Book that formed the basis of knowledge about Islam and the Quran in Europe in the early modern period. It was the first edition of the Latin translation of the Quran, published in Zurich in 1543. It was prepared by the Swiss theologian and orientalist T. Bibliander. T. Bibliander’s edition is notable for being one of the first in Europe for applying a humanistic methodology of philological analysis to the text of the Quran. Moreover, in his study T. Bibliander stepped out of both the paradigm of radical medieval anti-Islamic polemics and the mainstream of new reformist apologetics, and tried to present Islam and Muslims in a humanistic way, trying not to close the way of salvation in the Christian sense to them. T. Bibliander’s edition of the Quran, accompanied by extensive commentaries and a number of works on Islam and Muslims (including prefaces by the leaders of the Reform movement, M. Luther and F. Melanchthon), had a truly encyclopaedic character and marked a significant step towards the creation of a scientific Islamic studies in Europe, thus paving the way for further Christian-Muslim dialogue.