The “I read” editions reveal the backstage of an exceptional collection on Islam

After the success of the first works of the “Open Book Islam” collection, the prestigious editions I read continue their ambitious editorial project aimed at making the fundamental texts and the richness of the Muslim tradition accessible to as many people as possible. In this in -depth interview, Jérôme Oliveira, collection director, returns to the genesis of this project, its objectives and the new titles to be published. It also reveals the editorial and cultural issues of such an initiative, as well as the meticulous translation and expertise work necessary to guarantee the quality and loyalty of the proposed texts.

After the success of your collection published last year, which notably included the Holy Quran, Sîra and Hadîths, you are launching a new collection devoted to Islam today. What are the ambitions of this new series of works?

In reality, the Koran, the Sîra and the Hadîths are an integral part of the collection that we initiated and which carries the title “open book Islam”. As its name suggests, this collection aims to read the texts of Islam: those considered fundamental and others which, inspired by these scriptural sources, have given rise to an original Islamic creation by its form and its content.

This is the case of the long poem to the glory of the Prophet Muhammad, entitled The Bourda or the fabulous story of his celestial ascent under the title of Night trip that we have also published and which are often less known to the public. In the name of the collection: “Open book Islam”: it “opened”: the intention of our collection is both to present an open range of texts from the Muslim tradition and to invite the reader to open up to their wealth and diversity.

What audience is this collection for? Are you targeting an already initiated readership or do you want to reach a wider audience?

We have a double ambition: that of touching any curious and open spirit to otherness as well as the more specifically Muslim public who does not master the Arabic language enough to read these texts directly in their original language. In addition, for some as for others we are concerned with offering them works in a rigorous and neat edition on the bottom and the form and which, moreover, are easily held in the hands and are within the range of as their price is very affordable.

The translation and exegesis of such important religious texts require great rigor. Can you tell us about your editorial process and the experts who have accompanied you to guarantee the loyalty and quality of these publications?

The editorial process for us is to surround ourselves with the advice of competent people in the field of Islam and Islamology, to take into account research work in this area. As for the translation, we have published already existing translations which are authoritative as is the case for the Koran, Sîra, The Bourda and the Night trip from the Prophet Muhammad ; while concerning two of our collections of Hadîths – 30 Hadîths on nature and animals And 50 hadiths on faith and spirituality -which are, as such, unpublished selections, we have called on an associate professor of Arabic, Ruth Grosrichard, who trained many students of Sciences Po Paris to the Arabic language and the Arab-Islamic civilization. Some of the Umma Internet users may remember.

The book on Night trip from the Prophet Muhammad is distinguished by the richness of his religious imagination. How does this approach bring new light on this important episode of Islam?

THE Night trip from the Prophet Muhammad that we have chosen to publish this year is that composed and translated by the late Arabic, man of letters and Franco-Algerian Islamologist Jamel Eddine Bencheikh. He composed his story from those of the Muslim tradition and the versions that found themselves in the West, following a long journey. It took out a magnificent text, which combines spirituality, religious imagination, art of story and emotion. Through this celestial ascent, on each page the reader is taken by the vertigo of the descriptions which transport it in an elsewhere, in a world which is not usually accessible to it. He can then stop on a paragraph and indulge in meditation. In his place and in his own way, the reader makes this trip. The story of Night trip is little known to the general public, which is why we considered us judicious to make him discover the reader as he is full of unsuspected wealth.

Concerning 50 Hadîths of the Prophet Muhammad on faith and spirituality, What were your selection criteria? How did you make sure to offer accessible and representative content of the great lessons of the Prophet?

Once we had stopped the principle of bringing together in a single volume a choice of Hadîths of the Prophet Muhammad on faith and spirituality, we entrusted to the competent people who accompany us in this project and in particular to the professor that I mentioned above, to offer us a selection and to translate them from Arabic to French. This selection is extracted from the collections of Hadîths judged as canonical by the Muslim tradition, their authors are Boûkharî, Mouslim, Ibn Hanbal, Aboû Dâoud, Al-Tirmidhî and Ibn Mâja.

As you know, the Hadîths in question are counted by the thousands. It was therefore a long work to read these texts in Arabic to extract 50. Others could of course have been retained. But it seemed to us that those we have chosen give way to reflect and meditate because they realize the teachings, sentences, consultations and arbitrations of the Prophet, concerning faith, piety, love of God, absolute confidence in Him, purity of intention, meditation, the world here below and beyond.

Since your objective is to make these works accessible to the general public, will they be distributed in supermarkets and generalist bookstores, or do you favor specialized circuits?

Our goal is to reach a large audience. Books are therefore disseminated throughout our sales network: generalist bookstores, cultural signs, supermarkets and of course on online sales platforms.

Faced with the rise of prejudices and misunderstandings concerning Islam in our society, what role do you think that your collection can play in intercultural dialogue and the transmission of authentic knowledge of this religion?

Ignorance is too often a source of misunderstandings, of misunderstanding sometimes going as far as rejection. By giving to read to the reader who is foreign to the Muslim tradition of the texts of this tradition, we hope to contribute, if only modestly, to a better understanding of the object “Islam”. As for the Muslim reader, he will, we also hope, what to satisfy his quest for spirituality.

Interview by the editorial staff