De Koran: uitleg voor kinderen (Abdul Wahid van Bommel)

De Koran: uitleg voor kinderen ("The Qur'an explained for children") is the first interpretation of the Qur'an for children in Dutch, by Abdul Wahid van Bommel, in a series whose first volume appeared in 2017, the second in 2020 and the third in 2024, each centred on one of the five resolute prophets: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. ¹

Van Bommel was born in Amsterdam in 1944 into a Christian family, became Muslim between 1967 and 1971 and studied Arabic, tafsir, law and creed in Istanbul; since 1992 he has been an imam at the Beklaan Muslim Information Center in The Hague, and he is a professor at the Islamic University of Rotterdam. ¹

The third volume, on Moses, was published early in 2024 by the Fahm Institute, the first two having come from Parthenon of Almere, and was launched at the Ulu Cami in Utrecht in March 2024; it is meant for ages ten to fourteen. ¹ It covers the young men of the cave and the stories of Moses, Aaron and Khidr, drawing values such as patience, choosing good friends and humility, and then turns to climate change in its section on Surat al-Zalzala. ¹

Van Bommel translates the verses himself after comparing other translations, among them Irving's and Muhammad Asad's; he presents the Qur'an as a source of inspiration rather than a law book, leaves hell out of a book for children, and writes in a questioning, conversational style. ¹ The books are illustrated by the Bosnian artist Senad Alić; the reviewer notes concerns that some Muslims would reject them for their human figures, and that the author kept them. ¹

• Yulia Riswan, "Qur'an translation of the week #190", The Global Qur'an, 2024. ¹