Implications of Theological Diversity in Shii-Authored Translations of the Qur’an and tafsīrs into Russian

This chapter explores a variety of existing translations in Russian related to Shii tafsīr and Qur’an translations, an area of study that is often overlooked. It introduces these texts and relates them to the diverse actors who produced these works, such as local individuals and foreign institutions. It demonstrates that while Shii texts sometimes face similar problems to other religious texts in Russia in terms of state censorship, the absence of instruments of governance and institutionalization of Russian Shii Islam, such as muftiates, in contrast to Sunni communities, has ensured relative freedom for Shii scholars in terms of their choices regarding what to write, translate, and publish in the Russian language. This is considered as the main reason for the comparative diversity of Shii literature in the Russian-speaking context, both in print and online.