Forbidden Fruit: Translating the Qur'an in early modern Europe

 Christian-Muslim Relations Project Public Lecture

• Speaker: Professor Alastair Hamilton
• Title: Forbidden Fruit: Translating the Qur’an in early modern Europe

The Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded Christian-Muslim Relations project team at the University of Birmingham warmly invite you to its first public lecture, to be delivered by Professor Alastair Hamilton (School of Advanced Study, University of London).

Alastair's main interests lie in two fields: the history of Arabic studies and, more generally, of orientalism in Europe in the early modern period, with a special emphasis on the Arabic-speaking Christians; and religious non-conformism in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe (especially in Spain, Italy and the Low Countries).

Abstract

In early modern Europe the Qur'an was the victim of prejudice and the beneficiary of curiosity. The lecture explores the various reasons for translating it and the obstacles the translators encountered when having their translations published.

• The lecture will be followed by a reception and a launch of the latest Christian-Muslim Relations project publication
• The lecture is free and open to all, but please register online so we can get an idea of numbers for the reception