Quran and Sunnah Translation
Mu' meneen Brothers
and Sisters,
As Salaam
Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and
Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Dear
Burhan:
Salaam-Aliakum.
You are sending me Q&A forums that are posted on your site and have been already read by me. I am
still awaiting for your reply on
questions that were set forth and
emailed to you about a week ago [on justification (2 questions) and justification-2 (2 questions)]. Honestly speaking,
I really do not know what the facts or
turth are, but can very well understand the
frustations, sentiments and anger of many, including
myself, who need guidance, assurance, evidence, justifications and even commonsense. Certainly, this is not an easy task, but I and my family, have
always been open to facts which could
lead us to the right path in any given
circumstance, whether it may be religion,
science, nature, work, history, politics, medicine, etc., etc.
I know that there are many translations made by various scholars of their time, but in your most
humble opinion, which and where I could
get the most authentic and correct yet
simple English translation of our Holy Quran
for myself, my foreign wife and my 3 toddlers, to read and understand in
its purist form, in order to gain the
true concepts, meaning and enlightment of what is being said (we reside in Southern California,
Orange County, USA).
Is it also possible for me to get the English version (unfortunately we can only read and understand English) of the "diam-ul-Islam" for our
reference, acknowledgement,
justification, research and compa rison
study. If not, would it be possible for you to translate one in English
in its true form (I can imagine this
translation perhaps could lead to an arduous work, but again this would be a challenge to what's
mentioned
therein in relevance to the Holy Quran and blessings to your work). We simply would like to know?
Although I have read the Holy Quran in Arabic in its entirey but without any understanding, the translated version of
the Holy Quran by 'Ahmed Ali' has been with
me for over 15 years and have only read the first few portions of it (ie: the first few chapters),
I still cannot justify all those
answers given by you until and unless I
read the entire Quran with its true meaning
over and over again. Could I remember, recall and understand each and everything that the
Quran has said in "one
go",.... perhaps not! It would take me months or even years to accomplish this, not only just reading the Quran again and again in its true English
form and meaning, but also the English
translated Sunnah, to understand, obey
and practice the true Islamic way of life.
Your comments and suggestions will be highly appreciated and would like to get an early reply.
In the name of Allah, thank you so much for your favors and May God Bless you in your endeavours to
justify
everyones quest for truth, Aameen.
(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
Quran and Sunnah Translation
In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none
can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright.
We bear witness that there is no one (no idol,
no person, no grave, no
prophet, no imam, no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Your Statement: Honestly
speaking, I really do not know what the facts
or turth are, but can very well understand the frustations, sentiments and anger of many, including myself, who need guidance, assurance,
evidence, justifications and even
commonsense. Certainly, this is not an
easy task, but I and my family, have always been open to facts which could lead us to the right path in any given circumstance, whether it may be
religion, science, nature, work,
history, politics, medicine,
etc., etc.
Allah Subhanah has created the heavens and the earth, and everything that exists in between. And in all of existence, He has honored only man (and jinn) with two
things, which He has not given any one
or anything else in creation:
- Intelligence
or the Power of Reasoning.
- A
Free Will to choose whatever path one chooses for his salvation.
And the people who,
with their given intelligence and power of reasoning, and of their own free will, recognize their Creator through His
Attributes and Signs, believe in Him
and the Guidance sent by Him, and
submit their will to their Creator,
pass the test of this life.
And the people,
who with their given intelligence and power of reasoning, and of their own free will, deny their Creator, disbelieve or disregard His Attributes and
His Signs, deny the Guidance sent by
Him, and create or follow the path
other than the one approved by the Creator,
fail the test of this life miserably.
Allah and His Messenger (saws) have guided mankind to the
Right Path. Each and every matter
relating to Guidance has been outlined in the two sources of guidance; The Quran and the Sunnah of the Messenger of
Allah (saws); and if ones studies and
follows the guidance of Allah and His Messenger (saws); he will not need a third source!
We understand and appreciate the frustration, sentiments,
and anger of many amongst mankind who need guidance, assurance,
evidence, justifications, and logical answers; and we assure that if one just reads the Holy
Quran with understanding, even only once,
he will find all the answers that ever arose in a person’s mind
regarding Guidance.
Allah says in Chapter 2, Surah Baqarah aayat 185
"Ramadan is the
month in which the Quran was sent down: this Book is a perfect
guidance for mankind and consists of CLEAR teachings which show the
Your Question: I know that
there are many translations made by various
scholars of their time, but in your most humble opinion,
which and where I could get the most authentic and correct yet simple English translation of our Holy Quran for myself, my foreign wife and my 3
toddlers, to read and understand in its
purist form, in order to gain the true
concepts, meaning and enlightment of what is being said (we reside in Southern
California, Orange County, USA).
Brother, in our humble and
honest opinion, one of the most
authentic and most respected translations of the Quran in the English
language, is the work done by Brother
Abdullah Yusuf Ali. This translation
is available almost in any good Islamic bookshop, and over the internet.
It is by far, the most accepted
and read translation of the Holy Quran in the English language.
Your Question: Is it also
possible for me to get the English version
(unfortunately we can only read and understand English)
of the "diam-ul-Islam" for our reference, acknowledgement, justification, research and comparison study. If not, would it be possible for you
to translate one in English in its true
form (I can imagine this translation
perhaps could lead to an arduous work, but
again this would be a challenge to what's mentioned therein in relevance to the Holy Quran and blessings to your work). We simply would like to know?
If one wants to understand Islam;
one must go to the source of Islam,
that is, the words of Allah and
His Messenger (saws). The book
‘Daim-ul-Islam’ by Qadi Noaman was written in Arabic, and is not widely available in the English language; although we understand that an English
translation of the work was done by some Ismaili scholars some time ago.
The Glorious Quran is like the anti-biotic of
guidance; if one has knowledge of this
Divine Message of Allah Subhanah, he
can read any work by any author for reference,
acknowledgement,
justification, research and
comparitive study. But in our humble
opinion, if one reads the other
man-made works, theories, theologies,
etc. regarding guidance before he has knowledge of the Divine Words of
Allah; there is always a chance that he
would get influenced by their bias,
sectarianisms, culture, etc.
We will try to obtain a copy of the English translation of
the ‘Daim-ul-Islam’, and once we obtain
a copy for you; we will arrange to
forward it to you. But we highly
recommend that you and your family read the translation of the Holy Quran with
understanding, even if only once, before
you read any other work; that will
assure that you attain your Guidance in the most purest form.
Your Statement: Although I
have read the Holy Quran in Arabic in its
entirey but without any understanding, the translated version of the Holy Quran by 'Ahmed Ali' has
been with me for over 15 years and have
only read the first few portions of it
(ie: the first few chapters), I still
cannot justify all those answers given by you until and unless I read the entire Quran with its true
meaning over and over again. Could I
remember, recall and understand each
and everything that the Quran has said
in "one go",.... perhaps not! It would take me months or even years to accomplish this, not only just
reading the Quran again and again in
its true English form and meaning, but
also the English translated Sunnah, to
understand, obey and practice the true Islamic way of life.
My beloved brother, we assure
you that once you have read the Glorious Quran with understanding, even only once; no one will ever be able to mis-guide you in Islam. The translation of the Sunnah of the
Messenger of Allah (saws) will help you understand how the Messenger of Allah
(saws) understood and implemented the
Glorious Quran in his own life; and
give us a practical and perfect example of how to live a full and proper
Islamic life.
Your Statements: In the
name of Allah, thank you so much for your favors and May God Bless you in your endeavours to justify
everyones quest for truth, Aameen.
May Allah reward you with the best in this world and the
hereafter, for your kind supplications
for us. My beloved brother, please do not look at this humble service as
a favor; for we honestly are not doing
any favor to anyone by providing this humble service to our brothers and
sisters in Islam, and anyone else who
cares to listen to good caution. We
are only doing our duty that our Lord has commanded the believers to do.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran: Chapter 16, Surah An-Nahl Ayat 125
Invite to the way of
your Lord with wisdom and excellent admonition and argue with people in the
best manner. Your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Way and who is
Rightly guided.
All Praise is due to Allah Alone, Who has done imaginable and uncountable
favors to mankind, and guided us to the
Truth of Islam. If by our humble works
and efforts, we are able to bring even
one brother or sister closer to his/her Creator and the Guidance revealed by
Him, we will consider ourselves the
most fortunate people on this planet earth.
We ask for no reward and no appreciation for our service from
anyone, except our Merciful Lord. We beg and beseech Allah Subhanah to
accept our humble and weak efforts in the propagation of His Deen of
Truth, have mercy on us, forgive us our short-comings, and save us all from the torment of the Hell
Fire.
Whatever written of
Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever
of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows
Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in
Islam,
Burhan