Qur’an Translation and Reformist <i>daʿwa</i>: Ideology, Literacy, and Modernity in West Java

Qur'an translation was an important element of the daʿwa activities of reformist Muslims in West Java at the beginning of the twentieth century, as is reflected in the publication of the Sundanese translation of Ahmad Hassan's Tafsir Al-Foerqan, as well as other Qur'an translations penned by his friends and associates. These Sundanese translations not only promote a reformist ideology, but also demonstrate a shift in the formation of translation and literary culture in West Java: from interlinear word-for-word to verse-for-verse translation; from handwriting to printed books; and from Arabic ( jawi and pegon) script to Roman script. This article explores this new tradition of Qur'an translations. Written for the modern era, they differed from the interpretive translations taught in the traditional Javanese Islamic schools ( pesantren) and were influenced by a wave of reformist ideas originating from the Middle East during the late nineteenth century.