As in the rest of Europe, the study of Islam and Muslims in Sweden was for a long time primarily the study of Oriental languages, especially Arabic, but also Persian and Turkic languages (i.e. Martin 1995; Nanji 1997). Already in 1624, Arabic is mentioned as one of the languages that the Professor in Hebrew (Hebreae Linguage Professor) was expected to teach at Uppsala University (Malmberg 2007: 19).[1] As pointed out by Håkan Malmberg, Hebrew, and partly also Aramaic and Syriac, were at the forefront, while Arabic was seldom studied neither as a living language nor for its own sake. The Bible and its cultural, linguistic and religious landscapes were the focus. This situation progressively changed, and the Arabic and Turkic languages (including Tataric languages) became essential disciplines for Sweden’s diplomatic contacts with the Tatar Khanates and the Ottoman Empire, as well as gradually becoming important for the general study of Oriental languages (Malmberg 2007; on the importance of Swedish diplomatic relations with the wider Muslim world, see Jarring 1987 and Östlund 2020).