Why is Shamil Alyautdinov’s translation of the meanings of the Koran considered the first theological one? The fact is that the translation was first carried out by a scholar-theologian. Previous translations of the Koran into Russian were carried out either by orientalists (like G. S. Sablukov, I. Yu. Krachkovsky, B. Ya. Shidfar, M.-N. O. Osmanov), or translators (V. M. Porokhova, E . R. Kuliev) - none of them had a Muslim theological education. The significance of their works is not diminished at all; they are, of course, unique in their own way. The author of this theological translation of the meanings of the Koran received a higher theological education at al-Azhar University (theological academy-ma'had, and then the Faculty of Sharia), and has been working as the imam of the Moscow Memorial Mosque since 1997. The author does not claim that this work exhausts all the meanings of Holy Scripture.