Book - Naima AFIF

‘Le Coran vu d’ailleurs’ : Catalogue of the Exhibition at the National Library of Tunisia

Published by the Institut de recherche sur le Maghreb contemporain, Le Coran vu d’ailleurs accompanied the exhibition held at the National Library of Tunisia from 15 February to 30 April 2025. Edited by: Katia Boissevain, anthropologist and Director of the IRMC; Khaled Kchir, historian and Director of the National Library of Tunisia (BNT); John Tolan, professor, University of Nantes; Naima Afif, postdoctoral researcher, University of Copenhagen; and Jan Loop, professor, University of Copenhagen.

Couverture du catalogue Le Coran vu d’ailleurs, publié à l’occasion de l’exposition à la Bibliothèque nationale de Tunisie en 2025.

Book: ‘The European Qur’an: Encounters with the Holy Text of Islam from the Ninth to the Twentieth Century’

The European Qur'an book catalogue — Illustration by Marwan Shahin

What role does the Holy Scripture of Islam, the Qurʾān, play in the history of European thought? How has it been read and understood in Europe since the first translations in the Middle Ages?

The Qurʾān and Islam are traditionally seen as an antithesis to Europe’s self-narrative of cultural achievements: the Enlightenment, secularization, and religious tolerance. Some claim that Islam in general and the Qurʾān in particular are alien to Europe’s culture and political institutions.

This publication endeavours to counter this popular belief and to tell a different story by documenting the role the Qurʾān has played in the formation of culture, religion, scholarship, and politics in Europe. It expands the themes presented in our one-year exhibition The European Qur’an, currently on at the Weltmuseum Wien as part of the European Qur’an (EuQu) project (September 18, 2024 to August 24, 2025).

Available on the editor’s website.