Islam Translated: Literature, Conversion, and the Arabic Cosmopolis of South and Southeast Asia

336 Pages·2011·18.46 MB·English

by  Ronit Ricci

Litemrure,
Conversion,
I 1a m
and the Arabic
S
Cosmopolli. of South
and Southeast Asia
Translated
Ronit
Ricci
Islam
Translated
SOUTH ASIA ACROSS TH1! DISCIPLINES
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Islam
Literature, Conversion,
and the Arabic
Translated
Cosmopolis of South
and Southeast Asia
Ronit Ricci
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS
CHICAGO AND LONDON
RON IT RICCI is a lecturer in the SchoolofCulture,History,
and Language at the Austial.ian National University.
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESs, Chicago 60637
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESs,Ltd.,London
© 20n by The University of Chicago
An rights reserved. Published 20IL
Printed in the United States of America
20I9I817I615I4I3I2II 12345
ISBN -13: 9]8-0-226-71088-4 (cloth)
IS BN-10: 0-226--?1088-2 (cloth)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ricci, Ronit.
Islam translated: literature, conversion, and the Arabic
cosmopolis of South and Southeast kia/ Ronit Ricci.
p. em.-(South Asia across the disciplines)
Includes bibliographical references and ind eli:.
ISBN-13: 9]8-o-226--?Io88-4(hardcover: alk. paper)
ISBN-IO: o-226--71o88-2 (hardcover: alk. paper)
1. Book of one thousand questions--Translations-History
and criticism. 2. Islamic literature-Southeast Asia
Translations--History and criticism. 3· Kitab masa,l 'Abd
Allah ibn Salam lil-Nabi. 4-Scrat Samud. 5· Ayira macala.
6. Hikayat seribu masal.ah. 7· Southeast Asian literature
Islamic influences. 8. Muslim converts from Judaism-Early
works to r8oo-Translations-History and criticism.
I. Tide. II. Series: South kia across the disciplines.
PJ8J:3. RS33 20II
809'·93382~
2010041701
@This paper meets the requirements of
ANSifNISO Z39-48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
For my parents

Contents
list oflllustrations ix Preface :xi
Acknowledgments xili list ofA bbreviations xvii
I Introduction: An Arabic Cosmopolis? I
Part One: Translation
z On "Translation" and Its Untranslatability 3I
3 The Book qfSamud: A Javanese Literary Tradition 66
4 The TamilAyira Maca/a: Qyestions and Marvels 98
5 Seribu Masalah: The Malay Book qfOne Thousand Questions IZ9
Part Two: Conversion
6 Cosmopolitan in Translation: Arabic's Distant Travels I53
7 Conversion to Islam and the Book qfOne 7housand Questions I83
8 A Jew on Java, a Model Malay Rabbi, and a Tamil Torah Scholar:
Representations of Abdullah Ibnu Salam and the Prophet in the
Book qfOne Thousand Questions ZI6
Part 7hree: Conclusion
9 The Arabic Cosmopolis of South and Southeast Asia Z45
Bibliography 273 Index 299

Illustrations
Maps
I South and Southeast Asia xix
z Known sites of the production and circulation of the Book qfOne
7housand Questions in Javanese, Malay, and Tamil between the
sixteenth and twentieth centuries (with detail of South India) xx
3 Known sites of the production and circulation of the Book ifO ne
7housand Questions in Javanese, Malay, and Tamil between
the sixteenth and twentieth centuries (with detail of the
Indonesian-Malay Archipelago) x:xi
Figures
zs
I SeratSamud(Javanese)
z Serat Samud (Javanese, pegon script) z6
3 Kitah &rihu Masa'il (Malay,jawi script) 27
4 Ayira Maca/a (Tamil) 28