Ma'ariful
Qur'an -
Commentary of the Qur'an
By Mufti Muhammad Shafi
Published in Pakistan
Ma'ariful-Qur'an is the name of a detailed Urdu commentary of the Holy Qur'an
written by my father Maulana Mufti Muhammad Shafi'. He was one of the eminent
scholars who served as a professor and as a grand Mufti of Darul-Uloom Deoband,
the well-known university of the Islamic Sciences in the sub-continent of India.
In 1943, he resigned from Darul-Uloom, due to his active involvement in the
Pakistan movement, and when Pakistan came into existence, he migrated to Karachi
where he devoted his life for this new homeland of the Muslims and served the
country in different capacities. He also established Darul-Uloom Karachi, an
outstanding institute of Islamic Sciences on the pattern of Darul-Uloom Deoband,
which is regarded today as the biggest private institute of higher Islamic
education in Pakistan.
He was a prolific writer who left behind him about one hundred books on
different Islamic and literary subjects. Ma'ariful-Qur'an was the last great
work he accomplished four years before his demise.
The origin of Ma'ariful-Qur'an refers back to the third of Shawwal 1373 A.H.
(corresponding to the 2nd of July 1954) when the author was invited to give
weekly lectures on the Radio Pakistan to explain selected verses of the Holy
Qur'an to the general audience. This invitation was accepted by the author on
the condition that he would not accept any remuneration for this service and
that; his lectures would be broadcast without any interference by the editing
authorities. The permanent title of this weekly program was "Ma'ariful-Qur'an"
(The Wisdom of the Holy Qur'an) and it was broadcast every Friday morning on the
network of Radio Pakistan.
This series of lectures continued for ten years up to the month of June 1964
whereby the new authorities stopped the programme for reasons best known to
them. This series of lectures contained a detailed commentary on selected verses
from the beginning of the Holy Qur'an up to the Surah Ibrahim (Surah no. 14).
This weekly programme of Radio Pakistan was warmly welcomed by the Muslims
throughout the globe and used to be listened to by thousands of Muslims, not
only in Pakistan and India but also in Western and African countries.
After the programme was discontinued, there was a flood of requests from all
over the world to transfer this series in a book-form and to complete the
remaining part of the Holy Qur'an in the shape of a regular commentary.
These requests persuaded the esteemed author to revise these lectures and to
add those verses, which were not included in the original lectures. He started
this project in 1383 A.H. (1964) and completed the commentary of Surah al-Fatihah
in its revised form and started the revision of Surah al-Baqarah. However, due
to his numerous involvements he had to discontinue this task, and it remained
unattended during the next five years.
In Shawwal 1388 (1969) the esteemed author suffered from a number of
diseases, which made him restricted to his bed. It was during this ailment that
he restarted this work while on bed and completed Surah al-Baqarah in the same
condition. Since then he devoted himself to the "Ma'ariful-Qur'an".
Despite a large number of obstacles in his way, not only from the political
atmosphere of the country and the difficult responsibilities he had on his
shoulders in different capacities, but also from his health and physical
condition, he never surrendered to any of them and continued his work with a
miraculous speed until he accomplished the work in eight volumes (comprising of
about seven thousand pages) within five years only.
After appearing in a regular book-form, Ma'ariful-Qur'an was highly
appreciated and widely admired by the Urdu-knowing Muslims throughout the world.
Thousands of copies of the book are still circulated every year, and the demand
for the book is so increasing that it has always been a problem for its
publisher to satisfy the demand to its optimum.
A Few Words about the Present English Translation of Ma'ariful-Qur'an
Let me say a few words about the present English translation of the
Ma'ariful-Qur'an.
Although a large number of English translations of the Holy Qur'an are
available in the market, yet no comprehensive commentary of the Holy Qur'an has
still appeared in the English language. Some brief footnotes found with some
English translations cannot fulfill the need of a detailed commentary. Besides,
they are generally written by the people who did not specialize themselves in
the Qur'anic sciences, and their explanatory notes do not often reflect the
authentic interpretation of the Holy Qur'an. Some such notes are based on an
arbitrary interpretation having no foundation in the recognized principles of
the exegesis of the Holy Qur'an, and are thus misleading for a common reader.
On the other hand, during the last few decades, the Muslim population has
increased among the English speaking countries in enormous numbers. These people
and their new generations need a detailed commentary of the Holy Qur'an which
may explain to them the correct message of the last divine book with all the
relevant material in an authentic manner which conforms to the recognized
principles of tafsir (the exegesis of the Holy Qur'an).
Since Ma'ariful-Qur'an was the latest book written on these lines and was
proved to be beneficial for a layman as well as for a scholar, it was advised by
different circles that its English translation may fulfill the need.
It made me look for a person who might undertake the task, not only with his
professional competence, but also with his commitment to serve the Holy Qur'an.
Fortunately, I succeeded in persuading Prof. Muhammad Hasan Askari, the
well-known scholar of English literature and criticism, to undertake the
translation. In the beginning he was reluctant due to his strong sense of
responsibility in the religious matters, but when I assured him of my humble
assistance throughout his endeavor, he not only agreed to the proposal, but also
started the work with remarkable devotion. Despite my repeated requests, he did
never accept any honorarium or a remuneration for his service. He was a
chain-smoker. But he never smoked during his work on Ma'ariful-Qur'an, which
sometimes lasted for hours.
In this manner he completed the translation of about 400 pages of the
original Urdu book and 156 verses of the Surah al-Baqarah, but unfortunately,
his sudden demise discontinued this noble effort. Strangely enough, the last
portion he translated was the commentary of the famous verse:
"And surely, We will test you with a bit of fear and hunger and loss in
wealth and lives and fruits. And give good tidings to the patient who, when they
suffer a calamity, say, 'We certainly belong to Allah and to Him we are bound to
return."
Prof. Askari passed away in 1977, and due to my overwhelming occupations
during the next 12 years, I could not find out a suitable person to substitute
him. It was in 1989, that Prof. Muhammad Shamim offered his services to resume
the translation from where Prof Askari had left it. I found in him the same
sincerity, commitment and devotion I had experienced in the late Professor.
Moreover, he had decided to devote the rest of his life to the service of the
Holy Qur'an without any financial benefit. Here again I tried my best to
persuade him to accept some kind of honorarium, but it was in vain. He started
his work from the Verse 158 of Surah al-Baqarah and has now completed the
translation of the first two volumes of the original Ma'ariful-Qur'an and is
working on the third volume. (Now five volumes have been produced and work is
going on the remaining three volumes.)
Both Prof. Muhammad Hasan Askari and Prof. Muhammad Shamim have insisted that
their translations must be revised by me from the religious point of view. For
this purpose, I have gone through the typescript of the translations of both of
them and suggested some amendments where it was necessary.
The translation of Prof. Askari had been started at a time when the esteemed
author of Ma'ariful-Qur'an was still alive. We were fortunate to receive some
guidelines from the author himself. He had advised the translators not to be too
literal in translation to sacrifice the natural flow of the text. Moreover, he
had emphasized that while rendering his book into English, the requirements of
English readership must be kept in mind. Some discussions may be dispensed with.
Similarly, many paragraphs may be condensed in the English version in order to
avoid repetition.
The esteemed author had authorized me for suitable decisions in these
matters. Both the learned translators, despite their earnest effort to reflect
the original text as accurately as possible, have followed, in consultation with
me, the said advices of the author himself. However they have never tried to
sacrifice the original concept of the text for the beauty of language alone.
Particularly, in the juristic discussions of the book, they have been very
strict in the translation, lest some change in the style should creep in and
distort the accurate connotation of the Islamic injunctions. In such places, the
reader may feel some difficulty. However, a more concentrate reading can easily
remove it.
Translation of the Holy Qur'an
The original Urdu Ma'ariful-Qur'an had not given a new translation of the
Holy Qur'an itself. Rather, the esteemed author had adopted the Urdu
translations of Maulana Mahmoodul-Hasan (Shaikhul-Hind) and Maulana Ashraf Ali
Thanavi on which he based his commentary. While rendering the book into English,
we had three options about the translation of the Holy Qur'an:
(a) To adopt any one of the already available English translations of the
Holy Qur'an, like those of Arberry, Pickthall or Abdullah Yousuf Ali.
(b) To translate the Urdu translations used in the Ma'ariful-Quran into
English.
(c) To provide a new translation of our own.
After a great deal of consideration and consultation, we elected to work on
the third option, i.e. to prepare a new translation of the Holy Qur'an. The
reasons behind this decision were manifold which need not be detailed here. In
short, we wanted to prepare a translation, which may be closer to the Qur'anic
text and easier to understand. For this purpose, we formed a committee with the
following members:
1. Prof. Muhammad Shameem.
2. Mr. Muhammad Wali Raazi.
3. This humble writer.
This committee has accomplished the translation of the Holy Qur'an up to the
Surah Yusuf and is still going on with this project.
The committee has all the famous available translations of the Holy text
before it, and after a deep study of the relevant material found in the
classical Arabic commentaries, lays down the new translation in as simple
expressions as possible. While doing so, we have tried our best that the
different possible interpretations of the Qur'anic text remain undisturbed, and
the new translation accommodates as many of them as practicable. We have tried
not to impose on our reader a particular interpretation where several
interpretations were equally possible. However, where the translation could not
accommodate more than one connotation, we have followed the one adopted by the
majority of the classic commentators including Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanavi on
whose translation the Ma'ariful-Qur'an is based.
Despite all these sincere efforts, one cannot avoid the admission that the
exact translation of the Holy Qur'an is impossible. One cannot convey the glory
and the beauty of the divine expression in any other language, let alone the
English language, which, despite its vast vocabulary, seems to be miserable when
it comes to the expression of spiritual concepts.
Therefore, even after observing all the precautions at our command, we feel
that we were trying to translate a text, which is - as Arberry has rightly put
it - totally untranslatable.
However, this is another humble effort to convey the basic message of the
Holy Qur'an to a common reader in a simple manner. How far we have succeeded in
this effort? Allah knows best.
The Scheme of the Translation
Now, here are some points to be kept in mind while consulting the
translation.
1. Although the translators have tried their best to preserve not only the
literal sense of the Holy text, but also the order of words and sentences, yet,
while translating the idiomatic expressions, it is sometimes felt that the
literal translation may distort the actual sense or reduce the emphasis embodied
in the Arabic text. At such places effort has been made to render the Qur'anic
sense into a closer English expression.
2. Both in the translation of the Holy Qur'an and in the commentary, a
uniform scheme of transliteration has been adopted.
The scheme is summarized in the beginning pages of the book.
3. The names of the prophets have been transliterated according to their
Arabic pronunciation, and not according to their biblical form. For example, the
biblical Moses has been transliterated as Musa, alayhi salam, which is the
correct Arabic pronunciation. Similarly, instead of biblical Abraham, the
Qur'anic Ibrahim, alayhi salam, and instead of Joseph, the Qur'anic Yusuf,
alayhi salam, has been preferred.
However, in the names other than those of prophets, like Pharaoh, their
English form has been retained.
4. A permanent feature of the original Urdu Ma'ariful-Qur'an is its "Khulasa-e-Tafseer"
(Summary). Under every group of verses, the esteemed author has given a brief
summary of the meaning of the verses to help understand them in one glimpse.
This summary was taken from Bayan-ul-Qur'an, the famous commentary of Maulana
Ashraf Ali Thanavi, rahmatullah alayh. He has set up this summary by adding some
explanatory words or sentences within brackets to his Urdu translation. The
esteemed author of Ma'ariful-Qur'an has reproduced this summary (after
simplification in some places) with the heading of-Khulasa-e-Tafsir before his
own commentary to the relevant group of verses.
While translating Ma'ariful-Qur'an into English, it was very difficult,
rather almost impossible, to give that summary in the same fashion. Therefore,
the translators have restricted themselves to the commentary of Ma'ariful-Qur'an
and have not translated the Khulasa-e-Tafsir. However, where they found some
additional points in the summary, which are not expressly mentioned in the
commentary, they have merged those points into the main commentary, so that the
English reader may not be deprived of them.
It is only by the grace of Allah Almighty that in this way we could be able
to present this first volume of this huge work. The second volume is already
under composing, and we hope that Allah will give us tawfiq to bring the next
volumes as soon as possible.
Acknowledgments are due to all those who contributed their efforts, advices
and financial support to this work. Those deserving special reference are Prof
Abdul-Wahid Siddiqi, Dr. Zafar Ishaq Ansari, Mr. Abubakr Varachia and Mr.
Shu'aib 'Umar (both of South Africa) Dr. Muhammad Ismail (of U.S.A), and Mr.
Altaf Barkhurdaria.
My elder brother Mr. Muhammad Wall Raazi has been associated with the work
right from its beginning, and has always been a great source of guidance,
support and encouragement. He is a member of the committee set up for the
translation of the Holy Qur'an and his remarkable contribution, not only to the
translation of the Holy Qur'an, but also to the translation of the commentary is
unforgettable. He, too, has been contributing his valuable time and effort to
this project for years just for the sake of Allah. May Allah approve his
contributions with His pleasure and bless him with the best of rewards both here
and hereafter.
As for Prof. Muhammad Shameem, the original translator of Ma'ariful-Qur'an
after the demise of Prof. Muhammad Hasan 'Askari, all the formal words of
acknowledgment seem to be miserably deficient for the valuable service he has
rendered to this project. He has not only translated the book with precaution
and love, but also devoted his whole life to the Holy Qur'an and spared no
effort to bring this volume into light. Out of his commitment to the cause, he
did not restrict himself to the work of a translator, but also undertook the
function of an editor and a proofreader and supervised all other minute details
of the publishing process. His devotion, sincerity, and hard work are beyond any
amount of admiration. May Allah grant him the best reward of His absolute
approval for his noble work. Amin.
With these few words I am honored to present this first volume to the
readers. May Allah approve this effort and make it beneficial to the Ummah. 'Amin.
Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Darul-Uloom, Karachi-14
10 Safar 1416
9 July 1995