Customer Reviews

The Qur'an Translation

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This translation is considered the most authentic by Muslim scholars. It is the one that is supported by the government of Saudi Arabia and is most widely read by English-speaking Muslims. A translation of the Qur'an can never fully transmit the meaning or reflect the beauty of the original text. But the reality is that many people who seek to understand the message of the Qur'an will not be able to learn Arabic. It should be kept in mind that though the Arabic word may have multiple meanings, only one of those meanings gets translated to English (imagine what would happen to one of Shakespeare's puns if it was traslated to Arabic). But for English-speakers, this is the best option (though Mohammad Asad's translation is also very respected). The caveat is that to truly understand the Qur'an, it is important to read not only the text itself, but to understand it in context of the time it was revealed. Though Muslims consider the Qur'an to be timeless, many passages relate specifically to events occuring in the prophet's life or in the young Muslim community.

As a purely administrative note, with all due regard for what is surely a very fine translation, the print in this book is too small to support careful study. I bought this book, am glad to have it, but the publisher made a mistake in seeking to put too much small font print on each page. For a subject of this importance, what is needed is an 8.5 x 11 text with annotations and a syntopicon.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali's translation of the Qur'an is without question the most accessible translation of this book from Arabic to English.

That is to say, this is only a translation of the words of the Qur'an themselves. There is no analysis of the historical context of each sura (chapter) or anything like that. I am informed that this is probably a good thing, as Ali's interpretation is at odds with mainstream Muslim thought.

It is difficult to review a translation of a book deemed scripture by a large section of the world's population without reviewing the faith itself, and as a result these remarks will be neccessarily brief. However, speaking as a student of Islamic Studies - not as a convert to Islam, which I am not - I can say with a high degree of certainty that the claims that this text "endorses terrorism" or "explains why there are no Muslim theologians the equal of St Francis of Assisi" are untrue. In the first instance, anyone believing this to be the case would be well served to read works on Islam itself. In the second instance, much the same comment can be made, with the added fact that it is important to remember that Islamic theology evolved in a very different way to Christian or Jewish theology, and to apply one's own biases to another faith is an exercise in extreme futility.

A number of Qur'an translations here at Amazon have reviews pointing out that the only way to appreciate the text here is in its entirety, and this is quite true. Simply picking and choosing certain texts - often the ones known in the West as the "Sword Verses" - will result in a very biased view of this book. The world's Muslims believe this book to be true in its entirety, and it is in that respect that we who are not Muslim must view it.

To that, I would also like to add the recommendation that anyone trying to make a serious study of Islam not only read a Qur'an but also either take the time to ask Muslims about their religion or invest in books on the subject by respected authors (Esposito's "Islam: The Straight Path" and the recently-published "Jihad: From the Qur'an to bin Laden" by Bonney are highly recommended).

However, if the object is to buy an easily understandable English translation of the Qur'an, I can unreservedly recommend Abdullah Yusuf Ali's translation.

This is an excellent translation. Although some Muslims still think that the Qur'an should be read only in Arabic, more and more of them recognize that many people cannot do so and therefore endorse the appearance of ttanslations. This translation is writen in inspiring English. One can sense what Muhammad was communicating from Allah through him. Reading the Qur'an in English should dispell many misconceptions English Speaking people have of the Qur'an's contents. It is no longer necessary to rely on expert's summary comments on the Qur'an. Now people can read the text itself.

Henry Ruf, Philosophy, Florida Atlantic University

This seems to be one of three of the most accurate and complete translations (together with Shakir and Pickthal) based on the fact that the Islamic Monitor utilizes them because the Muslim Students' Association at University of Southern California uses these three. You can actually compare these translations at http://www.geocities.com/islamic_monitor/, which provides translations of selected texts side by side in making their points about Islam. If you are trying to learn about Islam and determine for yourself whether or not Islam is really a "religion of peace" compatible with a tolerant & free democracy, I would suggest, in addition to consulting the above link, that you also hear what ex-Muslims have to say about Islam at http://www.faithfreedom.org/ , especially if you don't have time for pouring over the entire Qur'an. This site, like the one above, points out the important relevant passages in the Qur'an that will answer your questions (see for instance the citations at http://www.faithfreedom.org/faq.htm ,Questions # 7 and # 21, and check out the photo Gallery).

This translation of the Qur'an is marketed as a pure English translation without the Arabic or commentary by the translator - and it is exactly this. BUT, there were a few things about this book that I was unaware of when I bought it:
This translation by Yusuf Ali (a great translation by the way) was updated by someone other than him to fit "contemporary" language and style. That is, instead of "of Ye we asketh" it would say "we ask You." Also, it is not written in meter or "biblical" style, but rather in plain sentences like a novel. I feel that this takes away from the enjoyability of the text greatly.
Also, you may want to get a version with the Arabic side by side with the English. Technically, since God spoke to Muhammad in Arabic, to understand the true meaning of the Qur'an, you must know Arabic. It's good to have the "original" text in case you have a question so you can ask an Imam or scholarly Muslim who speaks Arabic and they can derive an answer from the true text rather than from the Anglicized version.

I ordered this book to learn about their religion so I could better understand their point of view. So I could see both sides of the situation. This book translates their language in to English terms and makes the reader understand things in the proper manner.

All in all, I did not end up finishing the book as I lost interest. However it did give me a different outlook on their religion and the difference between Islam the religion and the extremists. Thats all I needed to know.

I recommend this book to anyone who is wondering about the Islam Religion.

If you can read the old testament, you can read this quran. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the translation but I had no trouble understanding the writing. As for the quran itself, it is a must read for non-Muslims. Only by reading it will you see that it is not what many portray it to be. It is not completely understandable unless you first read the bible as the quran takes many highlights and references from bible parables and passages as basis for its text. The quran has no chronology, and is basically 480 pages of rambling, repetitive love and wrath of God that could be boiled down to 15 pages. When it's not preaching heavenly rewards for believers, and fire and brimstone for non-believers, it's contradictory or inflaming.
Don't take my word for it. Borrow one from the library and read it for yourself. Or buy this inexpensive paperback. It isn't worth a lot of money to buy a nice copy.

PP: The Qur'an (Koran) is understood by Muslims to be conveyed spiritually to the Prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel on behalf of Allah - i.e. directly to him and him alone by a one and only God. It was written 600 years after the life of Jesus, several hundred after the assembly of the Christian Bible, and claims to support many of the same ideals as "the people of (that) book". However, the Qur'an denies the existence of the Trinity (i.e. the singular unity of God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus). Thus, like Judaism, Islam recognizes both Mohammed and Jesus as one of many prophets. The Qur'an was reportedly gradually revealed or transmitted by Gabriel to Mohammed over two decades while he was laying the foundations for the Islamic faith and government in Mecca. He then migrated to Medina where he established what became, after just a few generations the vast Arabian or Islamic (aka Muslim) colonial Empire in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
PP: At its peak, the Arabian Empire was geographically larger than its pantheon worshipping Greek and Roman predecessors and its immediate Islamic successor, the Ottoman Empire. Its colonies spanned the Middle East, parts southern Europe and northern Africa, and huge portions of India, Asia, and Indonesia from the 600's to 1300's A.D. In sum, the Arabian or original Muslim Empire was, in its historical context, an amazingly prosperous, technologically advanced, and socially tolerant civilization. It must be recalled that political power and civil control exercised during these and prior eras were barbaric in nature.
PP: It is vital to realize that Islam, both as it is described in the Qur'an and practiced in many Muslim dominated nations, might most accurately be described as a religion that functions as a political instrument to regulate populations. That instrument is used by despots and/or clerical oligarchies to manage a centralized political economy, prescribe social customs, and dictate civil law, for which justifications are found in the Qur'an by its most "respected interpreters" and in examples reportedly provided by Mohammad while he lived and by several of his contemporary observers.
PP: The Qur'an is hard reading for those unfamiliar with Islam's historic context and traditions. Unlike the Bible, the Qur'an does not represent the accumulated writings and wisdom of hundreds of sages over thousands of years. It is the product of a single "messenger" or prophet. Regardless of how its religious dimensions are labeled or described, like early Catholicism, the modern Islamic faiths serve as vehicles for the centralized governing and civilian control. In other words, while various Muslims apply its content differently, the "separation of church and state" - of civil and religious life - is not one of its basic principles. The political, economic, social, and political are melded into a worldview in which the Islamic religion functions to some extent as a means of civic enforcement.
PP: Islam is overwhelmingly based on the personality of Mohammed as the exclusive transmitter of Allah's or God's will (i.e. versus the specific "messages from Allah" found in the Qur'an). Most of all, to some extent like most of today's Christian faiths, Islam is based on a long history of interpretations by various Muslim clerics, called Sunna (Hadith and Sira). The Qur'an itself contains a considerable quantity of repetitious confusing contradictions. For example, in one place it will praise Jesus's teachings (thus many Western philosophies and ideologies) and advocate religious toleration. But elsewhere the Qur'an, again like the teachings of many Christian denominations today, condemns Christians (thus all other religions) as misguided apostates of the only true faith (i.e. one that might most accurately be described as "Mohammedism"); as sinners destined to eternal hell.
PP: Elsewhere, the Qur'an repeatedly expresses social and religious toleration, but in even more it advocates the use of the force of civil law and warfare to establish and maintain the Islamic faith within populations and internationally. Finally, like the Old Testament, Mohammed also describes civilian punishments and social structures (esp. the differing roles of the sexes) that were common worldwide up to the era in which the Qur'an was written - practices that are still employed to some extent in many Islamic countries and advocated by most of its modern "rightwing" extremists. However, such practices were long-ago rejected by Christians, then by secular intellectuals, and now universally considered cruel and unacceptable throughout the West. The contemporary perpetuation of Islam's belief in religiously-motivated domestic and international aggression and that the Qur'an - as it has historically been and continues to contemporarily be interpreted by a hierarchy clerics to applied in every domain of human existence are central to the divisiveness and violence separating it followers from the parts of the world derived from Christianity. And those well-intentioned nonviolent Christian's evangelists who are advocating and globally propagating the idea that they possess is the only "true" religion are adding fuel to the global tensions.

I bought this book as reference material to gain further insight into the writing of Mohammad and the religion of Islam. It is a great help into understanding the religion as a whole and I recommend it for use as a reference manual.