In March the Osnovy Publishing house will present its long-awaited translation of the Quran into the Ukrainian language by Arabic scholar and researcher Mykhailo Yakubovych, who spent 5 years on the project.
According to Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev, the release of a complete Ukrainian translation of the Muslim holy book is a significant event for the entire Ukrainian community.
“It will help the Ukrainian reader achieve better understanding of the values and principles of the Muslim community in our country,” Dzhemilev says. “Currently there are approximately 500,000 Ukrainian citizens of Muslim faith. The indigenous people of Crimea, the Crimean Tatars, are a special component of the Ukrainian nation, adding another dimension to the cultural and spiritual riches of Ukraine. The history of Islam in Ukraine is closely tied to these riches. The translation into Ukrainian of the teachings of the Quran will definitely promote closer ties between the Crimean Tatars and all of Ukraine,” Dzhemilev says.
Attempts to translate the Quran into Old Ukrainian were first undertaken still in the XVII century. However it was in 2007 that Mykhailo Yakubovych began work on a complete translation of the Muslim holy book. It took the Ukrainian researcher, Arabic scholar, and instructor at the Ostroh Academy more than 5 years to translate the Quran from the original Arabic, and then another two years to refine and polish the translation.
“We are proud of working with Mykhailo and we are proud that we are the first to publish the Ukrainian Quran,” says Dana Pavlychko, the director of the Osnovy Publishing House. “Today Ukraine is going through very hard times, but Osnovy will continue to do everything possible to publish fundamental books that are extremely important for our society and for mutual understanding.”
