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Dr Zafar Ishaq Ansari, the worthy translator of
Tafhīmu’l-Qur’ān, very graciously requested Mr Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, President of
Al-Mawrid Research Institute, to comment on this translation. In this section,
Shehzad Saleem, President of Al-Mawrid’s Centre for Islamic Communications, on
instruction from Mr Ghamidi and on his behalf, comments on this note-worthy work
-- Editor.
Sayyid Abu’l-alā Mawdūdī (1903-79) occupies a unique position
in the personalities which have influenced the Muslim thought in this century.
It can be said without fear of contradiction that his ideology and views hold
sway on most Islamic movements which have emerged in the various regions of the
Ummah in this era of its decadence. So profound is his influence that even his
opponents and critics speak in the terms coined by him. His dynamic ideas have
been a tremendous source of inspiration and motivation to many Muslims around
the globe. As a prolific writer, he has written on almost all the topics
pertaining to Islam. His magnum opus, however, is Tafhīmu‘l- Qur’ān, a
monumental exegesis of the Qur’ān which spreads over six volumes of
approximately 700 large-size pages each.
The importance of this work for the common man is tremendous:
the flowing translation of the Qur’ānic text links his heart and soul to the
Creator of the heavens and the earth. The explanatory notes answer most of the
questions which arise in his mind while reading the Qur’ān. In the words of
Altaf Gohar:
As I read the Tafhīmu‘l- Qur’ān I was moved not only by the
excellence of its language, the intensity of its grasp of the original, the
smooth uninterrupted flow of its diction but also by the explanatory notes which
deal with all significant questions, and where all kinds of doubts and problems
are resolved. (Mas‘ud ul-H~assan, Sayyid Abu’l-alā Mawdūdī and his Thought, Vol
II, P. 459, Islamic Publications Lahore, 1984)
For the benefit of the non-Urdu readers, the Tafhīmu‘l-
Qur’ān has been translated in a number of languages ever since its completion in
1972. In most international languages, this effort has been undertaken more than
once. In the English language, it was first translated by Chaudhry Muhammad
Akbar and his associate Abdul Aziz Kamal. This maiden effort was lauded greatly.
Also, Altaf Gohar has translated selected portions of this commentary in his own
distinct style.
The translation presently under our review is by Dr Zafar
Ishaq Ansari, Director General, Institute of Islamic Research, International
Islamic University, Islamabad. A scholar in his own right, Dr Ansari (b:1932)
obtained his M A in Economics from the University of Karachi and later his M A
and Ph D from the McGill University in Islamic Studies with specialisation in
Islamic History and Islamic Jurisprudence. Prior to his assignment in Islamabad,
he has been associated to many reputed universities round the globe in
connection with teaching and research.
It would be worthwhile to mention here that it was the great
Maulana himself who urged Dr Ansari to undertake this translation and it was
perhaps this encouragement which ultimately impelled him to accept this
challenge. Till now five volumes of this work have been published by The Islamic
Foundation, Leicester, UK. The volumes are set in highly attractive paper-back
covers and the printing standard is exceptionally good. While the translation of
the Qur’ānic text is entirely Dr Ansari’s effort, he has been ably assisted in
the explanatory notes by Dr A R Kidwai of the Islamic Foundation. The last sūrah
covered is ambiyā which means that almost one half of the work still remains to
be published. The eminent Professor Khurshid Ahmad has written an illuminating
foreword to this work which dwells upon the background, nature and distinctive
features of this most widely read exegesis of recent times.
Critics unanimously agree that good translations are those
which do not look like translations. They have a touch of originality in them.
Dr Ansari seems to be well aware of this standard and has tried to do justice to
this difficult proposition. While recording the principles and methodology of
his endeavour, he writes:
For a host of reasons my task was far from an easy one.
Translation from one language into another is always difficult, and especially
so when the material to be translated consists of matters that require both
accuracy and subtlety of expression. In this particular case, the task was
rendered even more difficult by the fact that the two languages in question
belong to two different cultural and intellectual traditions. These factors were
in addition to the erstwhile dilemma of every translator: to what extent should
he remain to the original text and to what extent should he exercise some
liberty in departing from it -- even with circumspection -- in the interest of
making the translated text read better and possess the characteristic flavour of
the translated language.
I naturally attempted to combine, as perhaps most translators
would do, the two opposing considerations. In order to achieve this, I tried to
keep my first draft as close to the text as possible, trying to retain as much
as I could of the original, even the sequence of the words and phrases. This
draft served as a base, and it was subjected to a series of drastic revisions in
order to make it readable in terms of the accepted idiom and style of English.
Even so, I made an effort to retain something of the flavour of the Urdu
literary prose, and especially of the characteristic style of Mawdūdī. (Editor's
Preface, P. xxii)
Dr Ansari has added a number of features to this translation
in order to make it more useful to the English reader. Many of the statements
left undocumented by the Maulana have been provided with adequate documentation.
As specified by him, all English quotations have been looked up in the original
texts and incorporated in the translation. In the onerous task of referencing
Hadith, he has adopted the system followed by A.J. Weinsinck in his A Handbook
of Early Muhammadan Tradition, Leiden, 1927, and later in his famous
Concordance. A Glossary of Terms has been included at the end of each volume to
explain to the unaware reader some of the important nomenclature used in them.
Biographical notes have also been added to provide basic information about the
persons whose name occur in the text. Besides the Subject Index translated from
Urdu, a General Index has also been painstakingly compiled. And last but not
least, a few more notes have also been added by him where he deemed necessary.
All in all, the translation is a very commendable effort. Dr
Ansari certainly deserves our felicitations in producing such a high quality
work. Here we present some extracts of this translation to give our readers some
idea of Dr Ansari’s admirable attempt.
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O you who believe! Spend out of what We have provided you
before there comes a Day when there will be no buying and selling, and no
friendship and intercession will be of any use. And they who disbelieve, they,
indeed are the wrong-doers. Allah, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting Who
sustains the entire order of the universe, there is no God but He. Neither
slumber seizes Him, nor sleep; to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all
that is in the earth. Who is there who might intercede with Him save with His
leave? He knows what lies before men and what is hidden from them, whereas they
cannot attain to anything of His knowledge save what He wills them to attain.
His Dominion overspreads the heavens and the earth, and their upholding wearies
Him not; He is All-High, All-Glorious. (2:254-255)
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And hasten to the forgiveness of your Lord and to a Paradise
as vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the God-fearing who spend in
the way of Allah both in plenty and hardship, who restrain their anger, and
forgive others. Allah loves such good-doers. These are the ones who, when they
commit any indecency and wrong against themselves, instantly remember Allah and
implore forgiveness for their sins -- for who will forgive sins save Allah? --
and who do not wilfully persist in the wrong they did. They shall be recompensed
by forgiveness from their Lord and by gardens beneath which rivers flow; there
they shall abide. How good is the reward of those who labour! (3:133-136)
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Say: ‘As for me, my Lord has guided me onto a straight way, a
right religion, the way of Abraham who adopted it in exclusive devotion to
Allah, and he was not of those who associated others, with Allah in His
divinity.’ Say: ‘Surely my Prayer, all my acts of worship, and my living and my
dying are for Allah alone, the Lord of the whole universe. He has no associate.
Thus have I been bidden, and I am the foremost of those who submit themselves
(to Allah).’ (6:161-163)
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Call upon your Lord with humility and in secret. Surely He
does not love transgressors. And do not make mischief in the earth after it has
been set in order, and call upon Him with fear and longing. Surely Allah’s mercy
is close to those who do good. And it is He Who sends forth winds as glad
tidings in advance of His Mercy, and when they have carried a heavy-laden cloud
We drive it to a dead land, then We send down rain from it and bring forth
therewith fruits of every kind. In this manner do We raise the dead that you may
take heed. As for the good land, vegetation comes forth in abundance by the
command of its Lord, whereas from the bad land, only poor vegetation comes
forth. Thus do We expound Our signs in diverse ways for a people who are
grateful. (7:55-58)
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Do you consider providing water to the Pilgrims and tending
the Sacred Mosque equal in worth to believing in Allah and the Last Day and
striving in the cause of Allah? The two are not equal with Allah. Allah does not
guide the wrong-doing folk. The higher rank with Allah is for those who believed
and migrated and strove in His cause with their belongings and their persons. It
is they who are triumphant. Their Lord gives them glad tiding of mercy from Him
and of His good pleasure. For them await Gardens of eternal bliss. Therein they
shall abide for ever. Surely with Allah there is a mighty reward. Believers! Do
not take your fathers and your brothers for your allies if they choose unbelief
in preference to belief. Whosoever of you takes them as allies those are
wrong-doers. (9:19-23)
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He it is Who gave the sun radiance and the moon light, and
determined the stages (for the waxing and waning of the moon) that you may learn
the calculation of years and the reckoning of time. Allah has created all this
with a rightful purpose (rather than out of play). He expounds His signs for the
people who know. Surely in the alternation of the night and the day and in all
that Allah has created in the heavens and the earth there are signs for the
people who seek to avoid (error of outlook and conduct). (10:5-6)
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And the command was given: ‘Earth! Swallow up your water’;
and: ‘Heaven! Abate!’ So the water subsided, the command was fulfilled, and the
Ark settled on Mount Judi, and it was said: ‘Away with the wrong-doing folk!’
And Noah called out to his Lord, saying: ‘My Lord! My son is of my family.
Surely Your promise is true, and You are the greatest of those who judge.’ In
response Noah was told: ‘Most certainly he is not of your family; verily he is
of unrighteous conduct. So do not ask of Me for that concerning which you have
no knowledge. I admonish you never to act like the ignorant ones.’ (11:44-45)
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Do they not see that We are advancing in the land,
diminishing it by its borders on all sides? Allah judges, and no one has the
power to reverse His judgement. He is swift in reckoning. Those who lived before
them also devised many a plot, but the master plot rests with Allah. He knows
what everyone does. The deniers of the truth will soon come to know whose end is
good. (13:41)
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Our Lord! I have made some of my offspring settle in a barren
valley near Your Inviolable House! Our Lord! I did so that they may establish
Prayer. So make the hearts of people affectionately inclined to them, and
provide them with fruits for their sustenance that they may give thanks. Our
Lord! Surely You know all that we conceal and all that we reveal’ -- and nothing
in the earth or in the heaven is hidden from Allah -- ‘All praise be to Allah
Who, despite my old age, has given me Ishmael and Isaac. Surely my Lord hears
all prayers. My Lord! Enable me and my offspring to establish Prayer, and do
accept, our Lord, this prayer of mine. Our Lord! Forgive me and my parents and
the believers on the Day when the reckoning will take place. (14:37-41)
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Indeed Abraham was a whole community by himself, obedient to
Allah, exclusively devoted to Him. And he was never one of those who associated
others with Allah in His Divinity. He rendered thanks to Allah for His bounties
so that Allah chose him [for His favours] and directed him to the right way. We
bestowed good upon him in this world, and in the Hereafter he shall certainly be
among the righteous. Then we revealed to you: ‘Follow the way of Abraham with
exclusive devotion to Allah. He was not one of those who associated others with
Allah in His Divinity.’ (16:120-123)
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Whosoever desires immediate benefits in this fleeting life,
We hasten to grant the benefits in the present life that We please to whomsoever
We like but thereafter We decree for him Hell wherein he shall burn, condemned
and rejected. But he who desires the Hereafter and strives for it as he should,
and is a true believer, his striving will come to fruition. To all of these as
well as those, We shall provide the wherewithal of this life in the present
world by dint of your Lord’s bounty; and from none shall be withheld the bounty
of your Lord. (17:18-20)
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Has the story of Moses reached you? When he saw a fire and
said to his family: ‘Hold on! I have just perceived a fire; perhaps I will bring
a brand from it for you, or I will find some guidance at the fire (about the way
to follow).’
When he came to it, a voice cried out to him: ‘Moses, Verily
I am your Lord! Take off your shoes. You are in the sacred valley, Tuwaa! I
Myself have chosen you; therefore, give ear to what is revealed. I am Allah.
There is no god other than Me. So serve Me and establish Prayer to remember Me.
(20:9-14)
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Verily this community of yours is a single community, and I
am your Lord; so worship Me. But they tore asunder their faith into many parts.
But to Us they are bound to return. Then whosoever does righteous works, while
believing, his striving will not go unappreciated. We record them all for him.
(21:92-94) |