Introduction

The essays in this volume help expand our knowledge of the Qurʾān in general and its tafsīr and history in particular in the broadly defined MalayIndonesian world. In this study, the term ‘Malay-Indonesian world’ is used to refer to the Malay Peninsula and Indonesian islands from the time of the thirteenth century.3 The goal of this volume is to draw the attention of students and researchers of the Qurʾān and tafsīr to the scope of Qurʾanic interpretation in the MalayIndonesian world in its various vernaculars. In doing so, it is hoped that this literature will be seen within the context of the wider Islamic world and especially in its connections to the Arab world. Those connections to the Arab world are very real: the number of works published first in Arabia or Egypt from authors based in the archipelago is striking. One facilitating feature was the use of Jawi (Arabic) script. However, for editors today, this poses transliteration issues: should Jawi texts be transliterated according to the norms of modern Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia (BIM) (e.g. sy = sh) or according to Arabic transliteration/conventions? In this work we have tended to follow Arabic transliteration norms in order to incorporate this study of the Malay world within the broader field of tafsīr studies. The names of Malays who died before 1900 have been transliterated following Arabic conventions; those dying after 1900 have their names written according to standard modern BIM conventions. It must be admitted that consistency in approach is difficult to achieve in these matters. Certain complexities arise: it is quite common for works to be published with Arabic script titles as well as in BIM, as seen in different works of exegesis. It is to be noted that the Arabic works that are more frequently cited and used as sources are not limited to or even dominated by the Bayḍāwī-ZamakhsharīRāzī exegetical genealogy that was so central in Ottoman and European traditions. This has been remarked on before: “Turkish and Indonesian authors regard Arab texts as important sources for their own scholarship while Arab authors, on the other hand, only rarely occupy themselves with the findings of their nonArab colleagues.”4 The essays here provide more evidence of this. Likewise, contributors from Indonesia and Malaysia provide the majority of these essays, in order to help readers comprehend the approaches of local scholars to the interpretation of the Qurʾān in the Malay-Indonesian world. The book has been structured into three main parts, preceded by a select bibliography of the topic in general in order to provide readers with further resources. The select bibliography demonstrates the development process of writings in various languages (i.e. in Bahasa Melayu and Indonesian, English, other European languages and Arabic) pertaining to different facets of tafsīr and its particular status in the Malay-Indonesian world. Part I provides the larger context for what follows. Peter G. Riddell points out in Chapter 1 that Islam has been present in the Malay-Indonesian world for over 1000 years, with entire communities identifying with the faith since around 700/1300. However, resources for understanding the earliest history of these communities are relatively sparse, mainly consisting of epic stories from the

region, archaeological evidence, and records of interactions preserved by travellers to the region. Nevertheless, commentaries on the Qurʾān play an important role from the eleventh/seventeenth century in filling in the gaps. In this chapter we consider two of the earliest works of tafsīr produced in Southeast Asia. Together they provide a range of fascinating insights into the early history of Islam in the region. First, they help identify Arabic source materials used by early commentators in producing the first Malay commentaries. Second, they carry a human touch by showing what kinds of stories appealed to Muslim audiences who had recourse to tafsīr in the early Islamic period in Southeast Asia. Third, these two commentaries manifest some significant differences in style and approach, providing valuable evidence of theological developments in the court of the Acehnese sultanate. In Chapter 2, Ervan Nurtawab examines Qurʾanic translations in Malay, Javanese and Sundanese from the seventeenth century to the early twentieth century, considering the ways in which variations in translation types reflect how these works functioned in Muslim societies as commentary or substitution. The study of Qurʾanic translations in these three cultural regions reveals that Malay Muslim scholars developed types of Qurʾanic translation according to what was acceptable to the majority of Malay people, which is the translation that serves as a commentary on rather than as a substitute for the original Arabic text. After being used by ʿAbd al-Raʾūf al-Fanṣūrī as a model for Tarjumān al-mustafīd in late seventeenth-century Aceh, the Jalālayn retained its popularity as a guide for writing other Malay Qurʾanic commentaries. In Java, variations in Qurʾanic translation method are found in the way that some Qurʾanic translations do not include the original Arabic text. In the Sundanese region, Qurʾanic exegetical activity is usually included in what some scholars regard as muṣḥaf. Some Qurʾāns that consist of interlinear translations were made not only for the purpose of Qurʾanic recitation but also for conveying its meaning; therefore, such works may be considered as works of translation or commentary. The various Qurʾanic translations produced are also found to be mixed with texts from other Islamic disciplines. A more specifically regional focus is adopted in the chapters in Part II. Mustaffa Abdullah discusses the study of Qurʾanic interpretation in southern Thailand in Chapter 3. Previously this region was a prominent centre of Islam and it produced reputable scholars in various fields, especially in the field of Qurʾanic interpretation. Abdullah considers the development of Islam in southern Thailand through the lens of Qurʾanic studies among traditionalist schools and in higher education. Scholarly figures in the field of interpretation are also examined in the light of their works and their methodologies. In Chapter 4, Izza Rohman focuses on modern Indonesia and how scholars there propose, reconsider or critique certain interpretive approaches to the Qurʾān, particularly since the 1980s – the era of Indonesian Muslim intellectual resurgence. His study focuses on three particular themes most frequently discussed by Indonesian scholars: the method of thematic interpretation, the historicity of the Qurʾān, and contemporary Western hermeneutical theories.