Filip Ćorlukić’s Hermeneutics and Exegesis in his Translation of the Qurʾān
Main Article Content
Keywords
Science, Islam, the Bible, the Qurʾān, evolution
Abstract
This essay outlines the main approaches that should be considered
when engaging with the works of Filip Ćorlukić in which
he examines the Qurʾān. It addresses his engagement with the
Islamic holy text through its translation and adaptation into the
Croatian language, through comparative analyses of the Qurʾān
and the Bible, through broader comparisons between Islam and
Christianity, and through Ćorlukić’s own distinctive and personal
study of the Qurʾān. Particular attention is devoted to his
scientific analyses, in which he seeks to reconcile “true” science
with “true” religion, the texts of the Bible and the Qurʾān, the
teachings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the principles
of scientism and theism.
References
1 This essay originated as a talk delivered in Bosnian at the International Scientific
and Professional Symposium “Filozofija islama,” held on November 10 and 11, 2023,
at the Islamic Cultural Center in Zagreb. The event was organized by the Majlis of
the Islamic Community in Croatia, the Scientific Research Institute “Ibn Sina” in
Sarajevo, and the Bosniak National Community for the City of Zagreb and Zagreb
County. The essay was written and finalized between late 2023 and early 2024.
During its composition, the author assumed that Mr. Filip Čorlukić was still alive,
having heard years earlier from the retired mufti of Zagreb, Mr. Ševko Omerbašić,
that Čorlukić had reached an advanced age and resided in a retirement home in Pula.
It was only recently that the author learned of Čorlukić’s passing on December 18,
2022, in Pula, at nearly 95 years old.
2 Usp. Max Scheler, Položaj čovjeka u kozmosu [The Human Place in the Cosmos],
preveli Vladimir Filipović and Sulejman Bosto, published by. Logos, Veselin Masleša,
Sarajevo, 1987.
3 Posveta, Kuran s vremensko-tematski raspoređenim poglavljima, priredio i komentirao
Filip Ćorlukić, izd. Nakladni zavod Matice hrvatske, Zagreb, 2001., 5. This book
will hereafter be referred to as: Kuran (in italics).
4 Kuran, 424.
5 This information is based on what is written on the back cover of Ćorlukić’s book
Kamo ideš čovječe, Prosvjeta, Zagreb, 1983.
6 Cf. https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filip_Ćorlukić, Accessed on 21 January 2024.
7 The foreword for the 1983 edition was written by Dušan Čalić.
8 The preface (prologue) for this work was written by Asaf Duraković.
9 Cf. Tamara Borić, Interview: Filip Ćorlukić – O crkvi, religiji, državi, genetici, ratovima,
published in Nacional, 19 June 2016.
10 See Filip Ćorlukić’s interview with Nacional (June 19, 2016).
11 Published by Prosvjeta, Zagreb, 1983.
12 Filip Ćorlukić, Quo Vadis Homo: Katastrofa ili savršenstvo?, izd. Fokus komunikacije
d. o. o., Zagreb, 2016.
13 Kuran: s vremensko-tematski raspoređenim poglavljima, 2001, priredio i komentirao
(edited and commentary by) Filip Ćorlukić.
14 In an interview for Nacional (June 19, 2016), Filip Ćorlukić mentions that Glas
Koncila criticized him because he had his own views on the “unified Gospel.” Glas
Koncila (“The Voice of the Council”) is a Catholic weekly newspaper published in
Croatia, closely associated with the Roman Catholic Church.
15 Dušan Čalić, Predgovor, Kamo ideš čovječe, 7.
16 Regarding Ćorlukić’s interpretations of the Qurʼān, it is useful to remember Maurice Bucaille and his book Biblija, Kurʼān i nauka [The Bible, the Qur’an & Science] (La Bible, le Coran et la Science), cf. edition in Bosnian, Sarajevo, 2001.
17 Cf. Filip Ćorlukić, Kamo ideš čovječe, 5.
18 Kamo ideš čovječe, 50.
19 Kamo ideš čovječe, 70-71.
20 Kamo ideš čovječe, 28.
21 Kamo ideš čovječe, 30.
22 Kamo ideš čovječe, 31.
23 Kamo ideš čovječe, 31.
24 Kamo ideš čovječe, 32.
25 Kamo ideš čovječe, 33.
26 Kamo ideš čovječe, 50.
27 Kuran, 414.
28 Kuran, 414.
29 Many works have been written about this, cf. Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes of the Qurʼān, Bibliotheca Islamica, Minneapolis, 1994.
30 Kamo ideš čovječe, 35.
31 Kamo ideš čovječe, 35.
32 Kamo ideš čovječe, 43.
33 Kamo ideš čovječe, 44-50.
34 Kamo ideš čovječe, 51-63.
35 Kamo ideš čovječe, 67-71.
36 Kamo ideš čovječe, 70.
37 Kamo ideš čovječe, 19.
38 Kamo ideš čovječe, 53.
39 Kamo ideš čovječe, 53.
40 Kamo ideš čovječe, 53.
41 Kamo ideš čovječe, 54.
42 Kamo ideš čovječe, 54.
43 Kamo ideš čovječe, 54.
44 Kamo ideš čovječe, 54.
45 Kamo ideš čovječe, 54.
46 Kamo ideš čovječe, 306.
47 Kamo ideš čovječe, 306.
48 Kamo ideš čovječe, 307.
49 Kamo ideš čovječe, 309.
50 Kamo ideš čovječe, 312.
51 Kamo ideš čovječe, 314.
52 Kamo ideš čovječe, 315.
53 Kamo ideš čovječe, 317.
54 Kamo ideš čovječe, 323.
55 Kamo ideš čovječe, 323.
56 That is Kuran: s vremensko-tematski raspoređenim poglavljima, priredio i komentirao
Filip Ćorlukić, published by Nakladni zavod Matice Hrvatske, Zagreb, 2001.
57 The Koran, translated by John Medows Rodwell, published by Bantam Classic, New
York, 2004.
58 Kuran, 273.
59 Kuran, 304.
60 Kuran, 276.
61 Kuran, 278.
62 Cf. Muhammad Asad, The Message of the Qurʼān, published by The Muslim World
League, Geneva, 1964.
63 Kuran, 164.
64 Kuran, 26.
65 Cf. The Study Quran, translated by Seyyed Hossein Nasr (editor-in-chief), Caner
K. Dagli, Maria Massi Dakake, Joseph E. B. Lumbard i Muhammed Rustom, izd.
HarperOne, New York, 2015.
66 In his translation or Kuran, Ćorlukić opts for this reading, and his translation reads:
“...da bi oni jeli njihove plodove, i od onoga što su proizvele njihove ruke...” (Kuran,
94) [Literally: that they may eat their fruits, and of what their hands have produced].
67 Cf. Óscar de la Cruz Palma, Robert de Ketton, traditore: Manifestatiions of anti-Islamic
Radicalism in the First Latin Translation of the Qurʼān, published in: The Latin
Qurʼān, 1143-1500., translation, transition, interpretation, edited by Cándida Ferrero
Hernández and John Tolan, De Gruyter, Berlin, 2021, pp. 111-121.
68 Let us also briefly mention that the saying in French “belle infidèle” (beautiful
unfaithful!) refers to translation. Namely, if the translation is beautiful, it is not
faithful to the original, and if it is not beautiful, then it is faithful to the original.
69 Cf. Filip Ćorlukić, Islam kao religija, kultura i civilizacija, pogovor Kuranu, izd.
Nakladni Zavod Matice Hrvatske, Zagreb, 2001., str. 391-432.
70 Kuran, 294.
71 Kuran, 359.
72 Kuran, 430.
73 Kuran, 20.
74 Kuran, 31.
75 Kuran, 32.
76 Kuran, 34.
77 Kuran, 37.
78 Kuran, 55.
79 Kuran, 69.
80 Mehmed Džemaludin Čaušević (1870-1938), a Bosnian translator of the Qurʼān.
81 Besim Korkut (1904-1975), a Bosnian translator of the Qurʼān.
82 Ševko effendi Omerbašić (born in 1945) was a mufti in Zagreb (Republic of Croatia) in the period 1990 – 2012.
83 Kuran, 430.
84 This essay was written between December 2023 and January 2024.
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