The First Translation of the Quran into Catalan: Its Importance, Characteristics, and Impact

نویسندگان

1 Professor at department of history and civilization of Islamic nations, Faculty of Theology and Islamic studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

doi
10.22108/nrgs.2024.142526.1986
چکیده

The Holy Quran, which was about an eighth of the religious book of the people of the Hebrew Peninsula, is considered part of the history, identity, and culture of that land, and has left important and significant impacts on the society and history there; Therefore, although years later, local governments, with the support of a number of the inhabitants of that land, in a historical and multi-generational confrontation, expelled Muslims from Andalusia and, in their opinion, cleansed the place of their religious and cultural heritage, subsequent events and developments showed that the Holy Quran, as a religious book, was and is of special importance to the people of Andalusia, especially the academic community, elites, researchers and Islamic scholars. That is why this divine book has been translated into Spanish more than thirteen times with different approaches. In this regard, the translation of the Quran into Catalan, which is the first language of Andorra and the northeastern regions of Spain, and the second language of parts of southern France and northwestern Italy, holds a special place. This work, carried out by Professor Mikel de Epalza, a prominent Spanish Islamic scholar, has not only attracted the attention of the Catalan community, but has also been welcomed by the scientific and academic community, and has even been awarded the Spanish National Prize in Translation. This research aims first to describe the Catalan language and its position among its speakers, then to explain the scientific position of Mikel de Epalza, and then to explain the importance, manner, characteristics, and cultural effects of translating the Holy Quran into Catalan.