''The Holy Quran with English translation and commentary'' is a 5 volume commentary of the Quran published in 1963 by the
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...
. It was prepared by a board of translators consisting of
Maulvi Sher Ali
Maulvi Sher Ali Ranjha (24 November 1875 – 13 November 1947) was a prominent Ahmadi scholar and a companion of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who claimed to be the Promised Messiah and the awaited mahdi.
Early life
Sher Ali was born to a well off and e ...
,
Mirza Bashir Ahmad
Mirza Bashir Ahmad (20 April 1893 – 2 September 1963) was an Ahmadi religious scholar and writer. He was the son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad who was the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement and who claimed to be the Messiah and Mahdi awaited by Muslims.
...
and
Malik Ghulam Farid
Malik Ghulam Farid (1897–1977), was a notable Ahmadiyya Muslim scholar. He was deputed the task of preparing the 5 Volume The English Commentary of the Holy Quran, in 1942, by Mirza Mahmood Ahmad, the second Khalifa. He published the said Commen ...
.
This 5 Volume ''Commentary'' covers about 3,000 pages with an Introduction by
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad ( ur, ) (12 January 1889 – 8 November 1965), was the second caliph ( ar, خليفة المسيح الثاني, ''khalīfatul masīh al-thāni''), leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the e ...
, the Second Caliph of the Ahmadiyya movement. The ''Commentary'' is largely based upon the earlier volumes of the Urdu ''Tafsir Saghir'', the 10 Volumes
''Tafsir Kabeer'' and unpublished notes of Mahmood Ahmad. The ''Introduction to the Study of the Holy Qur'an'' by Mahmood Ahmad, has been published as an independent work as well. In 1968, a single Volume abridged Edition was also published. The Arabic Text of the book has been given side by side with the English Translation, followed by a system of Cross-references and Notes.
Background and purpose
In the introduction to the work, stating the need for a modern English commentary, Mirza Mahmood Ahmad explained that all the large and systematic commentaries were in Arabic and thus of little use to those who cannot read the Quran in Arabic. Explanatory notes to their translations by non-Muslim authors had been influenced by writers who were prejudiced towards Islam. Moreover, these authors themselves knew little if any Arabic thus lacking access to the larger, more reliable commentaries and relying instead on the minor and more popular ones. Likewise, European translators and commentators seem not to have made a close study of the Quran itself, a necessary step in comprehending it by gaining an insight into its terminology, idiom and fundamentals from which its content derives its significance.
He also explained that the emergence of new sciences – which expose any book that professes to give a teaching to new criticism – merited a commentary of the Quran in light of new knowledge. Secondly, when the earliest commentaries of the Quran were written, the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
had not been translated into Arabic, therefore when discussing parts of the Quran containing references to Biblical narratives, the commentators often relied on what they had heard from Jewish and Christian scholars, or on their own speculations, with later European writers on Islam attributing their mistakes to the Quran. Now when knowledge of the Bible had become common and with Arabic, Latin and Greek works being accessible to Muslim scholars, new avenues for understanding the parts of the Quran which contain references to the Bible or the
Mosaic tradition had been made available. Thirdly, he stated that inter-religious controversies had hitherto largely revolved around matters of belief and ritual rather than those of moral and socio-political ideas or economic relations and that the contemporary world thought more in terms of these practical matters. A commentary dealing with such practical teachings of the Quran was therefore necessary. Fourthly, according to Mahmood Ahmad, the Quran contained prophecies and those prophecies which had been fulfilled up until the time of this commentary, constituted an important part of the evidence that the Quran was the revealed word of God. Fifthly, the Quran dealt with beliefs and teachings found in ''all'' other religions and ideologies, incorporating their best parts and pointing to their weaknesses and deficiencies. Earlier commentators were unaware of the teachings of these religions and ideologies and therefore unable to fully appreciate Quranic teachings regarding them. Now that all the most obscure teachings have become easily accessible and better known, a more comparative approach to the Quran vis-a-vis other religions and ideologies is possible which also demanded a new commentary.
[Mirza Bashirud-Din Mahmud Ahmad in Malik Ghulam Farid, et al]
''The Holy Quran with English Translation and Commentary'' Vol. I, pp. ii-iii
/ref>
System of translation and commentary
The authors explain to have adopted a three-fold scheme for translating and interpreting the Arabic words and expressions. First, interpreting an expression in the light of a corroborative testimony of the Quranic idiom itself. Secondly, the ‘context’ of a word or expression, which determines the meaning. Thirdly, meanings and explanations in the standard lexicons of the Arabic language, such as the ''Lisan al-Arab
''Lisān al-ʿArab'' (لسان العرب, "Tongue of Arabs") is a dictionary of Arabic completed by Ibn Manzur in 1290. History
Ibn Manzur's objective in this project was to reïndex and reproduce the contents of previous works to facilita ...
'', the '' Taj al-'Arus'', the '' Mufradat'' of Imam Raghib, the ''Arabic English Lexicon
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
'' by E. W. Lane and the '' Aqrab al-Mawarud'' etc. Words in ''italics'' have been placed to further explain/qualify the meaning of the text. The verses have been interpreted by appending ''notes'' to them which are serially numbered throughout the ''Commentary''. It is claimed these notes derive their authority from the spirit and tenor of the Quran. A concordance has been created to enable search for the same or similar expressions/concepts at other places of the Quran. In transliterating Arabic words, the system adopted by the Royal Asiatic Society has been followed.
In explaining difficult places or expressions, the authors, according to the Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...
beliefs, have adopted an order of precedence: Quran having precedence over Hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
, after the Hadith, the Arab Lexicons, and then the factual evidence of historical events. The authors believe, the Chapters (''Surahs'') in the Quran, have a ''natural order'', which also runs through the verses of each Chapter. At the beginning of each Chapter, an introduction has been given, explaining the main subject of the Chapter, the Chronology of Revelation and the questions of how every Chapter is linked to the previous one. It is claimed the Quran forms a thoroughly coherent and consistent reading. The verses of the various Chapters, and the specific position of each Chapter itself is governed by an intelligent order. The ''Notes'', it is claimed, have been placed to refute the principal objections raised against Islam by non-Muslim critics. It is claimed that such objections were based upon ignorance or deliberate misinterpretation of the teachings of Islam. Such objections have been refuted with the intent to remove the bias and prejudice against Islam, and make a better understanding of its teachings possible. The ''Commentary'' has a system of cross-references, placed below the Text and the Translation. These give, at a glance, the various places where the subject of a particular verse has been dealt with in the Quran.
See also
* Tafseer-e-Kabeer
Tafseer-e-Kabeer (Urdu: تفسير کبير, ''tafsīr-e-kabīr'', "The Extensive Commentary") is a 10 volume Urdu exegesis of the Quran written by Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, the second Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, over a p ...
References
External links
Full commentary 1968 version
In 5 volumes (1963):
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
{{DEFAULTSORT:English Commentary of the Holy Quran
English translations of the Quran
Islamic theology books
Ahmadiyya literature
1963 non-fiction books
Ahmadi tafsir