Islam – 200
List of translations of the Holy Qor-aan in Wikipedia
Although some earlier works are mentioned on page 69-A of ARO’s work, Wikipedia has an elaborate list of translations of the Holy Qor-aan in several languages. This list must be edited from time to time but when viewed in 2017 contained the following Main article: English translations of the Quran
The earliest known translation of the Qur’an in any European language was the Latin works by Robert of Ketton at the behest of the Abbot of Cluny in c. 1143. As Latin was the language of the church it never sought to question what would now be regarded as blatant inaccuracies in this translation which remained the only one until 1649 when the first English language translation was done by Alexander Ross, chaplain to King Charles I, who translated from a French work L’Alcoran de Mahomet by du Ryer. In 1734, George Sale produced the first translation of the Qur’an direct from Arabic into English but reflecting his missionary stance. Since then, there have been English translations by the clergyman John Medows Rodwell in 1861, and Edward Henry Palmer in 1880, both showing in their works a number of mistakes of mistranslation and misinterpretation, which brings into question their primary aim. These were followed by Richard Bell in 1937 and Arthur John Arberry in the 1950s.
The Qur’an (1910) by Dr. Mirza Abul Fazl (1865–1956), a native of East Bengal (now Bangladesh), later moved to Allahabad, India. He was the first Muslim to present a translation of the Qur’an into English along with the original Arabic text. Among the contemporary Muslim scholars Dr. Mirza Abul Fazl was a pioneer who took interest in the study of the chronological order of the Qur’an and drew the attention of Muslim scholars to its importance.
With the increasing population of English-speaking Muslims around the start of the 20th century, three Muslim translations of the Qur’an into English made their first appearance. The first was Muhammad Ali‘s 1917 translation, which is composed from an Ahmadiyya perspective, with some small parts being rejected as unorthodox interpretation by vast majority of Muslims. This was followed in 1930 by the English convert to Islam Marmaduke Pickthall‘s translation, which is literal and therefore regarded as the most accurate.[8] Soon thereafter in 1934, Abdullah Yusuf Ali (from Bohra community) published his translation, featuring copious explanatory annotation – over 6000 notes, generally being around 95% of the text on a given page – to supplement the main text of the translation. This translation has gone through over 30 printings by several different publishing houses, and is one of the most popular amongst English-speaking Muslims, alongside the Pickthall and Saudi-sponsored Hilali-Khan translations.[9]
With few new English translations over the 1950–1980 period, these three Muslim translations were to flourish and cement reputations that were to ensure their survival into the 21st century, finding favour among readers often in newly revised updated editions. Orientalist Arthur Arberry’s 1955 translation and native Iraqi Jew N. J. Dawood‘s unorthodox translation in 1956 were to be the only major works to appear in the post-war period. A. J. Arberry’s The Koran Interpreted remains the scholarly standard for English translations, and is widely used by academics.[9]
The English Translation of Kanzul Iman is called “The Treasure of Faith,” which is translated by Farid Ul Haq. It is in simple, easy-to-understand modern-day English. Explanations are given in brackets to avoid ambiguity, provide better understanding and references to similar verses elsewhere.
Dr. Syed Abdul Latif’s translation published in 1967, regarded highly by some (he was a professor of English at Osmania University, Hyderabad), was nevertheless short-lived due to criticism of his foregoing accuracy for the price of fluency.
The Message of the Qur’an: Presented in Perspective (1974) was published by Dr. Hashim Amir Ali. He translated the Qur’an into English and arranged it according to chronological order. Dr. Hashim Amir-Ali (1903-1987) was a native of Salar Jung, Hyderabad, Deccan. In 1938 he came under the influence of Dr. Mirza Abul Fazl Allahabadi, and took a deep interest in the study of the Qur’an and was aware of the significance of the chronological order of the passages contained in it.
A Jewish convert to Islam, Muhammad Asad‘s monumental work The Message of The Qur’an made its appearance for the first time in 1980.
Professor Ahmed Ali‘s Al-Qur’an: A Contemporary Translation (Akrash Publishing, Karachi, 1984, Reprinted by Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1987; Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 1988, with 9th reprinting 2001). Fazlur Rahman Malik of the University of Chicago writes, “It brings out the original rhythms of the Qur’anic language and the cadences. It also departs from traditional translations in that it gives more refined and differentiated shades of important concepts“. According to Francis Edward Peters of New York University, “Ahmed Ali’s work is clear, direct, and elegant – a combination of stylistic virtues almost never found in translations of the Qur’an. His is the best I have read”.
At the cusp of the 1980s, the 1973 oil crisis, the Iranian Revolution, the Nation of Islam and a new wave of cold-war generated Muslim immigrants to Europe and North America brought Islam squarely into the public limelight for the first time in Western Europe and North America. This resulted in a wave of translations as Western publishers tried to capitalize on the new demand for English translations of the Qur’an. Oxford University Press and Penguin Books were all to release editions at this time, as did indeed the Saudi Government, which came out with its own re-tooled version of the original Yusuf Ali translation. Canadian Muslim Professor T. B. Irving‘s ‘modern English’ translation (1985) was a major Muslim effort during that time.[citation needed]
Qur’an: The Final Testament, Islamic Productions, Tucson, Arizona, (1989) was published by Rashad Khalifa ( رشاد خليفة ) [19 November 1935 – 31 January 1990]. Khalifa wrote that he was a messenger (rasool) of God and that the Archangel Gabriel ‘most assertively’ told him that chapter 36, verse 3, of the Quran, ‘specifically’ referred to him.[10][11] He is referred to as God’s Messenger of the Covenant, by his followers.[12] He wrote that the Quran contains a mathematical structure based on the number 19. He made the controversial claim that the last two verses of chapter nine in the Quran were not canonical, telling his followers to reject them.[13] His reasoning was that the verses, disrupted an otherwise flawless nineteen-based pattern and were sacrilegious inasmuch as they appeared to endorse worship of Mohammed. Khalifa’s research received little attention in the West. In 1980, Martin Gardner mentioned it in Scientific American.[14] Gardner later wrote a more extensive and critical review of Khalifa and his work.[15]
The arrival of the 1990s ushered in the phenomenon of an extensive English-speaking Muslim population well-settled in Western Europe and North America. As a result, several major Muslim translations emerged to meet the ensuing demand. One of them was published in 1990, and it is by the first woman to translate the Quran into English, Amatul Rahman Omar, together with her husband, Abdul Mannan Omar[16]. In 1991 appeared an English translation under the title: The Clarion Call Of The Eternal Qur-aan, by Muhammad Khalilur Rahman (b. 1906–1988), Dhaka, Bangladesh. He was the eldest son of Shamsul Ulama Moulana Muhammad Ishaque of Burdwan, West Bengal, India, – a former lecturer of Dhaka University.[citation needed]
In 1996 the Saudi government financed a new translation “the Hilali-Khan Qur’an” which was distributed free worldwide by the Saudi government as it was in line with their particular interpretation .[17]
In 1999 a fresh translation of the Qur’an into English entitled The Noble Qur’an – A New Rendering of its Meaning in English by Abdalhaqq and Aisha Bewley (who is an American) was published by Bookwork,[18] with revised editions being published in 2005 [19] and 2011.[20]
The Qur’an in Persian and English (Bilingual Edition, 2001) features an English translation by the Iranian poet and author Tahere Saffarzadeh. This was the third translation of the Qur’an into English by a woman, after Amatul Rahman Omar,[21] and Aisha Bewley – and the first bilingual translation of the Qur’an.[22][23][24]
In 2003, the English translation of the 8-volume Maariful Quran was completed and the translation of the Qur’aan used for it was newly done by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani in collaboration with his brother Mawlana Wali Raazi Usmani and his teachers, Professors Hasan Askari and Muhammad Shameem.
In 2004 a new translation of the Qur’an by Muhammad Abdel-Haleem was also published, with revised editions being published in 2005 [25] and 2008.[26]
In 2007, The Meanings of the Noble Qur’aan with Explanatory Notes by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani was published. It has been published in 2 volumes at first and later, in a single volume. It is the first single-handed English translation of the Qur’aan done by an authentic Sunni Islaamic scholar who is also one of the greatest scholars living today, if not the greatest. He also translated the Qur’aan in simple Urdu, making him a translator of the Qur’aan in dual languages. In 2007 The Sublime Qur’an appeared by Laleh Bakhtiar; it is the second translation of the Qur’an by an American woman.[22][27][28][29]
In 2009 Maulana Wahiduddin Khan translated the Quran in English, which was published byGoodword Books entitled, The Quran: Translation and Commentary with Parallel Arabic Text. This translation is considered as the most easy to understand due to simple and modern English. The pocket size version of this translation with only English text is widely distributed as part of dawah work.
A rhymed verse edition of the entire Qur’an rendered in English by Thomas McElwain in 2010 includes rhymed commentary under the hardback title The Beloved and I, Volume Five, and the paperback title The Beloved and I: Contemplations on the Qur’an.
In 2015 Dr. Mustafa Khattab of Al-Azhar University completed The Clear Quran: A Thematic English Translation, after three years of collaboration with a team of scholars, editors, and proof-readers. Noted for its clarity, accuracy, and flow, this work is believed to be the first English translation done in Canada.[30]
A Turkish Scholar Hakkı Yılmaz worked on the Qur’an through the root meanings of the Arabic words and published a study called Tebyin-ül Qur’an. And he also published a Division by Division Interpretation in the Order of Revelation in Turkish. His work, then was translated in English. [31]
In 2018, Dr Musharraf Hussain released a reader-friendly presentation of the translation of the Quran that will help readers to understand the topic being read, and learn the moving and transformative message of the Quran. There are 1500 sections with headings. The Infallible word of Allah is a literary masterpiece of breathtaking beauty, revealed by the Most Gracious and Loving Lord in an authoritative yet gentle, poetic language. This refreshing and beautiful presentation of the message of the glorious Quran is accurate, and reads easily and flows smoothly. The notes help to explain special Islamic concepts and Quranic terms, as well as Arabic metaphors and idioms. This landmark translation will appeal to English readers globally
