''The Message of The Qur'an'' is an English translation and interpretation of the

1924 Cairo edition The history of the Quran, the Islamic holy books, holy book of Islam, is the timeline ranging from the inception of the Quran during the lifetime of Muhammad (believed to have received the Quran through revelation between 610 and 632 CE), to th ...

of the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

Muhammad Asad Muhammad Asad (born Leopold Weiss; 2 July 1900 – 20 February 1992) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Muslim polymath, born in modern day Ukraine. He worked as a journalist, traveler, writer, List of political theorists, political theori ...

, an Austrian Jew who converted to Islam. It is considered one of the most influential Quranic translations of the modern age. The book was first published in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

in 1980, and has since been translated into several other languages.Brockett, Adrian Alan,
Studies in two transmissions of the Qur'an
' p11 Asad meant to devote two years to completing the translation and the commentary but ended up spending seventeen. In the opening, he dedicates his effort to "''People Who Think''". The author returns to the theme of

Ijtihad ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ' , ) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question. It is contrasted with '' taqlid'' ( ...

- The use of one's own faculties to understand the Divine text - again and again. The spirit of the translation is resolutely modernist, and the author expressed his profound debt to the reformist commentator

Muhammad Abduh Muḥammad ʿAbduh (also spelled Mohammed Abduh; ; 1849 – 11 July 1905) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar, judge, and Grand Mufti of Egypt. He was a central figure of the Arab Nahḍa and Islamic Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th ce ...

. In the foreword to the book, he writes "...although it is impossible to 'reproduce' the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

as such in any other language, it is none the less possible to render its message comprehensible to people who, like most Westerners, do not know

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

...well enough to find their way through it unaided." He also states that a translator must take into account the ''ijaz'' of the Qur'an, which is the ellipticism which often "deliberately omits intermediate thought-clauses in order to express the final stage of an idea as pithily and concisely as is possible within the limitations of a human language" and that "the thought-links which are missing - that is, deliberately omitted - in the original must be supplied by the translator...".

Reception

The Message of The Qur'an received favorable reviews from discriminating scholars. Gai Eaton, a leading

British Muslim Islam is the second-largest religion in the United Kingdom, with results from the 2021 Census recording just under four million Muslims, or 6.0% of the total population in the United Kingdom. London has the largest population and greatest p ...

thinker, after noting the limitations of Asad's rationalist approach, described Asad's translation as "the most helpful and instructive version of the Qur'an that we have in English. This remarkable man has done what he set out to do, and it may be doubted whether his achievement will ever be surpassed." Considered one of the leading translations of the Qur'an, it has been criticized by some Atharis for its

Ash'ari Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...

leanings. The book was banned in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

in 1974 (before its publication) due to differences on some creedal issues compared with the

Wahhabi Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other ...

ideology prevalent there.Khaleel Mohammed
Assessing English Translations of the Qur'an
/ref>

Following is a list of 114 Chapters ( Surahs) of Quran, their

names and their English translations as produced by Muhammad Asad: #

Al Fatiha Al-Fatiha () is the first chapter () of the Quran. It consists of seven verses (') which consist of a prayer for guidance and mercy. Al-Fatiha is recited in Muslim obligatory and voluntary prayers, known as ''salah''. The primary literal mea ...

(The Opening) #

Al Baqara Al-Baqarah (, ; "The Heifer" or "The Cow"), also spelled as Al-Baqara, is the second and longest chapter (''surah'') of the Quran. It consists of 286 verses ('' āyāt'') which begin with the "'' muqatta'at''" letters ''alif'' ()'', lām'' ( ...

(The Cow) #

Al 'Imran Al Imran (, ; The Family of Imran) is the third chapter (sūrah) of the Quran with two hundred verses ('' āyāt''). This chapter is named after the family of Imran (Joachim), which includes Imran, Saint Anne (wife of Imran), Mary, and Jesus ...

(The Family of 'Imran) #

Al Nisa' An-Nisa' (, ; The Women) is the fourth chapter (sūrah) of the Quran, with 176 verses ( āyāt). The title derives from the numerous references to women throughout the chapter, including verse 34 and verses .Haleem, M. A. S. Abdel. The Qur'an. ...

(Women) #

Al Ma'idah Al-Ma'idah (; 'The Table pread with Food is the fifth chapter of the Quran, containing 120 verses. Al-Mā'idah means "Meal" or "Banquet" . This name is taken from verses 112 to 115, which tell the request of the followers of Prophet 'Isa ...

(The Repast) #

Al An'am Al-An'am (, ; The Cattle) is the sixth chapter (sūrah) of the Quran, with 165 verses ( āyāt). Coming in order in the Quran after Al-Fatiha, Al-Baqarah, Al 'Imran, An-Nisa', and Al-Ma'idah, this surah dwells on such themes as the clear ...

(Cattle) #

Al A'raf Al-Araf (, ; The Heights) is the 7th chapter (''sūrah'') of the Qur'an, with 206 verses ( āyāt). Regarding the timing and contextual background of the revelation (''Asbāb al-nuzūl''), it is a "Meccan surah", which means it was revealed be ...

(The Faculty of Discernment) #

Al Anfal Al-Anfal (, ; The Spoils of War, Earnings, Savings, Profits) is the eighth chapter (sūrah) of the Quran, with 75 verses ( āyāt). Regarding the timing and contextual background of the revelation (''asbāb al-nuzūl''), it is a "Medinan su ...

(Spoils of War) # Al Tawbah (Repentance) #

Yunus (Jonah) Yunus (, ; Arabic synonym of "Jonas" or "Jonah"), is the 10th chapter (surah) of the Quran with 109 verses ('' ayat''). Yunus is named after the prophet Yunus (Jonah). According to tafsir chronology (''asbāb al-nuzūl''), it is believed to ha ...

# Hud # Yusuf (Joseph) # Al Ra'd (Thunder) # Ibrahim (Abraham) # Al-Hijr # Al Nahl (The Bee) # Al Isra' (The Night Journey) # Al Kahf (The Cave) # Maryam (Mary) # Ta Ha (O Man) # Al Anbiya' (The Prophets) # Al Hajj (The Pilgrimage) # Al Mu'minun (The Believers) # Al Nur (The Light) # Al Furqan (The Standard of True and False) # Al Shu'ara (The Poets) # Al Naml (The Ants) # Al Qasas (The Story) # Al 'Ankabut (The Spider) # Al Rum (The Byzantines) #

Luqman Luqman, Lokman or Lukman (; also known as Luqman the Wise or Luqman al-Hakim) was a man after whom '' Luqman'', the 31st ''surah'' (chapter) of the Qur'an, was named. There are many stories about Luqman in Persian, Arabic and Turkish literatur ...

# Al Sajdah (Prostration) # Al Ahzab (The Confederates) #

Saba' Sheba, or Saba, was an ancient South Arabian kingdom that existed in Yemen from to . Its inhabitants were the Sabaeans, who, as a people, were indissociable from the kingdom itself for much of the 1st millennium BCE. Modern historians agree th ...

(Sheba) #

Fatir Fatir (, ; Originator), also known as Al-Mala’ikah (, ; "The Angels"), is the 35th chapter (sūrah) of the Qur'an with 45 verses ( āyāt). Parts of Q35:39-45 are preserved in the Ṣan‘ā’1 lower text. Regarding the timing and cont ...

(The Originator) # Ya Sin (O Thou Human Being) # Al Saffat (Those Ranged in Ranks) # Sad # Al Zumar (The Throngs) # Ghafir (Forgiving) # Fussilat (Clearly Spelled Out) # Al Shura (Consultation) # Al Zukhruf (Gold) # Al Dukhan (Smoke) # Al Jathiyah (Kneeling Down) # Al Ahqaf (The Sand-Dunes) #

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

# Al Fath (Victory) # Al Hujurat (The Private Apartments) # Qaf # Al Dhariyat (The Dust-Scattering Winds) # Al Tur (Mount Sinai) # Al Najm (The Unfolding) # Al Qamar (The Moon) # Al Rahman (The Most Gracious) # Al Waqi'ah (That Which Must Come to Pass) # Al Hadid (Iron) # Al Mujadilah (The Pleading) # Al Hashr (The Gathering) # Al Mumtahinah (The Examined One) # Al Saff (The Ranks) # Al Jumu'ah (The Congregation) # Al Munafiqun (The Hypocrites) # Al Taghabun (Loss and Gain) # Al Talaq (Divorce) # Al Tahrim (Prohibition) # Al Mulk (Dominion) # Al Qalam(The Pen) # Al Haqqah (The Laying-Bare of the Truth) # Al Ma'arij (The Ways of Ascent) # Nuh (Noah) # Al Jinn (The Unseen Beings) # Al Muzzammil (The Enwrapped One) # Al Muddaththir (The Enfolded One) # Al Qiyamah (Resurrection) # Al Insan (Man) # Al Mursalat (Those Sent Forth) # Al Naba' (The Tiding) # Al Nazi'at (Those That Rise) # 'Abasa (He Frowned) # Al Takwir (Shrouding in Darkness) # Al Infitar (The Cleaving Asunder) # Al Mutaffifin (Those Who Give Short Measure) # Al Inshiqaq (The Splitting Asunder) # Al Buruj (The Great Constellation) # Al Tariq (That Which Comes in the Night) # Al A'la (The All-Highest) # Al Ghashiyah (The Overshadowing Event) # Al Fajr (The Daybreak) # Al Balad (The Land) # Al Shams (The Sun) # Al Layl (The Night) # Al Duha (The Bright Morning Hours) # Al Sharh (The Opening-Up of the Heart) # Al Tin (The Fig) # Al Alaq (The Germ-Cell) # Al Qadr (Destiny) # Al Bayyinah (The Evidence of Truth) # Al Zalzalah (The Earthquake) # Al 'Adiyat (The Chargers) # Al Qari'ah (The Sudden Calamity) # Al Takathur (Greed for More and More) # Al 'Asr (The Flight of Time) # Al Humazah (The Slanderer) # Al Fil (The Elephant) #

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

# Al Ma'un (Assistance) # Al Kawthar (Good in Abundance) # Al Kafirun (Those Who Deny the Truth) # Al Nasr (Succour) # Al Masad (The Twisted Strands # Al Ikhlas (The Declaration of od'sPerfection) # Al Falaq (The Rising Dawn) # Al Nas (Men) * Appendices: ** I. Symbolism and Allegory in the Qur'an ** II. Al-Muqatta'at ** III. On the Term and Concept of

Jinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...

** IV. The Night Journey

References

External links

The Message of the Qur’ān (first complete edition 1980)
Dar al-Andalus Limited, 3 Library Ramp, Gibraltar, Dublin: ''Cahill Printers Limited East Wall Road, 3'', original Quran translated into English. * (archived) * (archived)
Al-Quran
project includes the

translation of Muhammad Asad (both the original English and the Spanish translation).
''The Message of The Qur'an'': Complete with commentary (HTML)
(archive of obsolete website, complete up to and including Sura 51)
Online version of the book in Spanish by Junta Islamica (HTML)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Message Of The Qur'an English translations of the Quran Muhammad Asad

Reception

Contents

See also

References

External links