In the 1920s, the famous Ukrainian orientalist Agatangel Krymskyi translated some passages from the Koran into Ukrainian and included them in his Islamic studies. But still, despite his deep, one might even argue, comprehensive interest in Islam and thorough knowledge of the Arabic language, the scientist did not set himself the goal of a complete translation of the Koran.
In the early 1990s, a poetic translation from Arabic of the oldest surahs of the Meccan period of Prophet Muhammad’s activity was performed by the Ukrainian orientalist from Lviv, Yarema Polotniuk. It was published in the magazine of foreign literature “Vsesvit”.
A well-known Ukrainian orientalist and researcher of Islam, professor Valery Rybalkin, made a significant contribution to the translation of the Koran into Ukrainian. He translated from the Arabic sura, which he published both as a separate book and published in the pages of the magazine “Eastern World”. All these translations, despite their solid scientific basis and high artistic value, were incomplete, published in small editions in specialized magazines, so the Koran was still not fully accessible to the ordinary Ukrainian reader.
In 2010, the first complete edition of the translation of the meanings of the Koran into Ukrainian was finally published, the author of which is the famous Soviet, Ukrainian, and Russian poet, writer, translator, and journalist Valery Basirov. Valery Basirov lived in the Crimea, very famous not only on the peninsula, but also in other regions of Ukraine. In 2011 and 2013, three more reprints of the meanings of the Koran translated by V. Basirov were published.
In 2013, the second complete edition of the translation of the meanings of the Koran into Ukrainian appeared. Its author is Mykhailo Yakubovych, a Ukrainian orientalist from the Ostroh Academy. The first edition (2013) was published at the King Fahd Center in Medina (Saudi Arabia).
In 2019, a new full, meaningful translation of the Koran in Ukrainian appeared. The translation was done under the guidance of theologian Namik Babakhanov. N. Babakhanov claims that he carried out this translation together with a group of translators and editors. Namik Tofikovich (Tofik ogly) Babakhanov: specialist in Islamic sciences, theologian, researcher, teacher, journalist, publicist, translator. In addition to his native Azerbaijani language, he knows Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian. Babakhanov was born in Baku, has lived in Ukraine for more than ten years, graduated from Al-Mustafa International Islamic University and Baku Islamic University.
Online center of Islamic culture
in Ukraine and Eastern Europe – ahlibeyt.org