Nurettin Uzunoğlu (1939 – 9 October 2013) was a Turkish
Qur'an translator and
commentator, writer,
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...
,
political scientist, academic, and professor who worked as a lecturer at various universities in the United States and has the title of "Turkey's second youngest professor" at the age of 27.
He spoke nine foreign languages, including English, German, French,
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
, Japanese,
Urdu
Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
, and
Malay; and became fluent in English at a young age.
Education
He completed his secondary and high school education in
Kütahya,
Uşak and
Manisa. After graduating from the Department of International Relations and Political Science from
Ankara University
Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...
, he received his bachelor's degree from
Northwest University in the United States and his master's degree from the
University of Nebraska
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
. He completed his doctorate on
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
with the joint doctoral program between the USA and Ankara University.
He worked as a lecturer at the University of Nebraska,
Bellevue University and
Middle East Technical University. He stayed in the USA for many years and served as a visiting professor in many countries around the world, from the Middle East to
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, Japan, Hawaii, USA, Canada,
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
,
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
,
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
and
Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
. He gave trainings in
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
, India,
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
, and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
. He participated in external education programs at Ankara University, and devoted himself to being the most traveling scholar after
Evliya Çelebi and
Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, Ibn ...
.
Works
During his 46-year career, he has authored 34 books on various subjects, mostly in English, including the following:
* American Aid to Turkey, 1947–1963.
* History of the Prophets.
* Islamic Law: Based on Hanafi, Shafee, Maliki, Hanbeli: Four Schools of Thought.
* The Concept of God in Islam & The 99 Attributes of God Sharh-ul Asma'ul-Husna in English.
* Judaism, Christianity & Islam: A Comparative Study of Three Divine Religions.
*
The Majestic Quran: An English Rendition of Its Meanings.
* The Holy Qur'an: Translation and Commentaries.
Uzunoğlu sent the translation of the Qur'an into English to 47 heads of state around the world, including
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
,
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...
,
Angela Merkel and
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
, and personally gifted the translation to
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
when she was the
US Secretary of State.
He also has authored the world's first and only English Qur'an translation written in
Braille alphabet consisting of 8 volumes and 2 thousand pages for the
visually impaired.
Death
He died in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
on October 9, 2013, and was buried in the
Eyüp Cemetery after the
funeral prayer performed in
Fatih Mosque.
See also
*
Ali Ünal
*
Ahmed Hulusi
*
Rank Nazeer Ahmed
*
Musharraf Hussain
References
External links
The Holy Qur'an with Translation and Commentariesby ''Prof. Dr. Nurettin Uzunoğlu''
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uzunoglu, Nurettin
1939 births
2013 deaths
People from Kütahya
Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences alumni
Turkish Muslim missionaries
University of Nebraska faculty
Bellevue University faculty
Turkish Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Translators of the Quran into English
Burials at Eyüp Cemetery
Academic staff of Middle East Technical University
20th-century Turkish translators
20th-century Turkish male writers