Bridging the Times: The Relevance of Early 20th Century Children^s Tafsir for the Modern Generation Ulvah Nuraeni (a*), Nabilah Nuraini (b)
(a,b) Universitas Islam Bandung
*ulvah.nuraeni[at]unisba.ac.id
Abstract
This paper focuses on examining the relevance of children^s tafsir strategies found in the Tamshiyyah al-Muslimin tafsir book by KH. Ahmad Sanusi. This children^s tafsir was written in the early 20th century, specifically between October 1934 and June 1939. As noted by Bruinessen, at that time, tafsir was still rarely studied in many pesantren. The study of tafsir was even considered exclusive, as it was typically reserved for senior students. Moreover, both translation and interpretation of the Qur^an faced various challenges from traditionalist circles, which contributed to the limited production of children^s tafsir works. Nevertheless, KH. Ahmad Sanusi-a warrior, kyai, and interpreter-recognized that the Qur^an needs to be understood by people of all ages. He also realized the importance of introducing tafsir to children from an early age. Despite the limitations of printing technology and the lack of advanced graphic design at the time, Sanusi was able to develop innovative and effective interpretation strategies for children in his era. Some of the strategies he employed included presenting Qur^anic transliterations for children who had not yet learned to read Arabic, providing word-for-word tafsiriyah translations, and using the Malay language to promote accessibility and inclusivity. These strategies appear to remain relevant today. Therefore, this study seeks to analyze the relevance of Sanusi^s children^s tafsir strategies in the context of contemporary children^s tafsir. To achieve this objective, the research adopts a qualitative descriptive approach, supported by comparative analysis between Sanusi^s work and modern-day children^s tafsir.
Keywords: Children^s tafsir- Relevance- 20th Century, Modern
