Towards Understanding the Qur'an
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Towards Understanding the Qur'an is the English rendering of Syed Abul Ala Maududi's famous Urdu commentry -- Tafheemul Qur'an.
This book ranks as one of the best commentaries of the Qur'an. In this commentary work Maududi gives the historical reasons behind the verses of Qur'an. He also gives a comprehensive introduction and background for each chapter in the Qur'an. This tafsir answers contemporary questions. Maps and indexes add greatly to the work.
Book: Towards Understanding the Qur’an
(English Version of Tafhumu’l-Qur’an)
Author: Sayyid Abul A’la Mawdudi
Translator: Zafar Ishaq Ansari
Publisher: The Islamic Foundation
Trgeted readers
"Towards Understanding the Quran" aims to fulfill the growing desire of the educated people to grasp the true spirit of the Qur'an and understand the real object of its revelation. It is hoped that this work will meet the demand that has been increasing day by day in spite of the praiseworthy efforts of the translators and commentators.
The main object of this work is to enable the English reader to understand clearly the meaning and the aim of the Qur'an. In order to achieve this, (a) an interpretation has been attempted instead of a literal translation and (b) Explanatory Notes have been added wherever necessary. A free explanatory translation has been adopted for two reasons: (1)A word for word translation of the Qur'an has already been done by several worthy persons and that suffices to serve its purpose. (2) It cannot fulfill the object for which this work has been undertaken. As a matter of fact, literal translation often becomes a hindrance to the full understanding of the Qur'an.
Speacial features
In order to avoid the common defects of the existing English translations, the following devices have been adopted in " Towards Understanding the Quran":
- An attempt has been made to express Towards Understanding the Quran in simple, clear and effective modern English. An explanatory translation into intelligible English has been adopted and appropriate words have been placed within brackets to fill up the gaps which necessarily occur in every translation. Full care, however, has been taken to remain faithful to the original.
- Anticipated difficulties have been removed and likely objections answered in the Introduction to each Surah or chapter.
- The background of every Surah has been given in its introduction and the periods the circumstances and the occasion of its revelation have been specified, for every discourse has its own background and is so intimately connected with it that if it is isolated From it, its contents are liable to become unintelligible.
- The meanings of the Text have been divided into coherent paragraphs.
- Wherever there is no equivalent of an Arabic word in English, it has either been explained by a phrase or retained in the original.
- A glossary of un-translated Arabic words and a key to the correct pronunciation of Arabic names and words have been added.
Towards Understanding the Quran merely attempts to help the reader to understand and appreciate the Arabic Text of the original Qur'an and is not an substitute for it.
A quick introduction
In pages of Introduction to the study of the Qur'an, Maududdi writes: "One cannot understand fully many of the topics discussed in the Qur'an unless one is acquainted with the background of their revelation. One should know the social, historical or other antecedents or conditions which help explain any particular topic. For, the Qur'an was not revealed as a complete book at one and the same time; nor did Allah hand over a written copy of it to Muhammad (peace be upon him) at the very beginning of his mission and command him to publish it and invite people to adopt a particular way of life. Moreover, it is not a literary work of the common conventional type that develops its central theme in a logical order; nor does it conform to the style of such a work. The Qur'an adopts its own style to suit the guidance of the Islamic Movement that was started by Allah's Messenger under His direct command. Accordingly, Allah revealed the Qur'an piece-meal to meet the requirements of the Movement in its different stages".
About the author
Syed Abul Ala Maududi (1903-1979), one of the chief architects of contemporary Islamic resurgence, was the most outstanding Islamic thinker and writer of his time. He devoted his entire life to expound the meaning and message of Islam and to organise a collective movement to establish the Islamic Order.
In this struggle, he had to pass through all kinds of sufferings. Between1948-67, he was put behind bars on four occasions, spending a total of five years in different prisons of Pakistan. In 1953, he was also sentenced to death by a Martial Law court od Pakistan for writing a pamphlet, this sentence being later commuted to life imprisonment.
In 1941, he founded Jama'at-I Islami, of which he remained Amir (chief) until 1972 and which is one of the most prominent Islamic movements today. He authored more than one hundred books on Islam, both scholarly and popular, and his writings have been translated into forty languages.
Maududi took almost 30 years to complete this famous commentary in 6 volumes, amidst his busy schedule. Twice he travelled to some of the places referred in the Qur'an while he was writing this commentary.
Mawdudi died in 1979 after a lifetime of serving Islam.