The Tefsir of the Tatars – the Critical Edition of the First Translation of the Qurʾān into Polish (16th Century). Results of the Tefsir Project

Abstract The article refers to the fully preserved translation of the Qurʾān into a third European language and a first Slavic language. It was made by the Tatars of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, who profess Sunni Islam in a Christian environment. This paper presents original results of the research on the project Tefsir – Philological and Historical Study and Critical Edition of the So-Called Tefsir of the Tatars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Second Half of the 16th Century (the First Translation of the Qurʾan into Polish). Insights provided in the paper enable the field of Islamic studies to move beyond its usual focus on Muslim Arabs and the Middle East and reveal the diversity of Muslim communities, especially those in Eastern Europe, which are not often featured in scholarly literature. The paper shows connections that the Tatar literary culture had with Christian and, more specifically, Bible study traditions – the subject that has been gaining renewed interest in the context of redefining the history of Christian Europe’s relationship with Islam.