ABSTRACT
From the seventeenth century, Malay scholars drew upon classical Middle Eastern interpretations of the Qurʾān to compile works of Qurʾanic exegesis. In this field, the Malay-Indonesian world entered a new phase in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Middle Eastern-Arab thought in general and Egyptian political and exegetical activity in particular had a profound influence on modern Malay-Indonesian scholars. They increasingly produced their own commentaries, drawing upon classical and modern commentaries of the Qurʾān.1 Thus MalayIndonesian Qurʾanic interpretations can be divided into two parts: classical interpretations before the nineteenth century influenced by the Middle Eastern classical-medieval exegetes, and modern interpretations after the nineteenth century reflecting modern exegetical movements popular in the Middle East. Malay-Indonesian exegetical history has previously been examined by both Malay and non-Malay scholars. This select bibliography presents the literature in Malay-Indonesian, English, non-English European languages, and Arabic dealing with Qurʾanic interpretations (tafāsīr) and interpreters (mufassirūn) in the Malay-Indonesian world. The interest of students and scholars in tafsīr studies in Southeast Asia necessitates such a bibliographical guide. Indeed, the aim of this bibliography is to group together different areas of Islamic studies with Malay-Indonesian exegetical materials. Apart from the considerable effort of Indonesian scholars, the bibliography reflects the steady growth of publications on Malay tafsīr written by Malaysians, some of whom are founding their own journals to promote their culture, literature, and identity. This concise bibliography, arranged in chronological order – without specifying the total page numbers of books – reflects the development of the interpretation of the Qurʾān and assists readers in anticipating the direction of further exegetical activity in the Malay-Indonesian world.
