The Glorious Quran (English Translation by Zafarul-Islam Khan)
By
Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam
29 February
2024
The work is
described as “An accurate rendering of the Holy text based on earliest
authoritative sources”. To my knowledge,
every translator has endeavoured to render the text based on the earliest
authoritative sources accurately. Even if Zafarul-Islam has succeeded better
than others since he has tried to improve upon what others have achieved, is
that good enough? Did the earliest Muslims understand the Quran as revealed?
Although I think that the earliest Muslims were the best Muslims in matters of
faith and sincerity, I have powerful reasons to say that they lacked the necessary
knowledge of the world to correctly understand many of its verses and good
reasons to believe that some of their understanding, is coloured by bigotry.
An
Example Of The Bigoted Understanding Of The Earliest Scholars
The
following is from Ibn Kathir’s Tafsir of verse 2:193 and how the meaning
of “Fight until there is no more Fitnah” was understood by the earliest
scholars:
Allah then
commanded fighting the disbelievers when He said:
﴿ حَتَّىٰ لَا تَكُونَ فِتۡنَةٌ۬ ﴾
(...until
there is no more Fitnah) meaning, Shirk or polytheism. This is the
opinion of Ibn `Abbas, Abu Al-`Aliyah, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, Ar-Rabi`,
Muqatil bin Hayyan, As-Suddi and Zayd bin Aslam.
Allah's
statement:
﴿ وَيَكُونَ ٱلدِّينُ لِلَّهِۖ ﴾
(...and the
religion (all and every kind of worship) is for Allah (Alone).) means, `So that
the religion of Allah becomes dominant above all other religions.'
The
permission to fight was first given in verses 22:39 and 40:
(2:39) To
those against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight), because they
are wronged;- and verily, Allah is most powerful for their aid;-
(40) (They
are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right,- (for
no cause) except that they say, "our Lord is Allah". Did not Allah
check one set of people by means of another, there would surely have been
pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name
of Allah is commemorated in abundant measure. Allah will certainly aid those who
aid his (cause);- for verily Allah is full of Strength, Exalted in Might, (able
to enforce His Will).
The fitnah
against which the permission to fight was given is the fitnah of religious
persecution that the early Muslims were subjected to, detailed in the verses
above. Nowhere is there permission to fight the enemy for their religious
beliefs. The earliest scholars transgressed the limits of interpreting the Holy
Text in misguided zeal. They created the Fitnah of religious intolerance of
other faiths, which made some Muslims become the oppressors of other people
because of their religion. Even if most Muslims are not such oppressors, they
do believe that “Shirk is Fitnah”.
﴿ وَيَكُونَ ٱلدِّينُ لِلَّهِۖ ﴾
The meaning
of the above is that one should fight until the Deen of Allah prevails. What is
the Deen of Allah? In the context of this verse, it means until there is no
more religious persecution. This view is also supported by verse 2:256, “Let
there be no compulsion in religion”, which is an integral part of the Deen of
Allah. However, the tafsir of Ibn Kathir has the following explanation:
(...and the
religion (all and every kind of worship) is for Allah (Alone).) means, `So that
the religion of Allah becomes dominant above all other religions.'
While
Zafarul-Islam’s translation of verse 2:193 is free from this erroneous
interpretation, he commits the same error as the traditionalists while
translating verse 8:38.
8:38 Say (O
Prophet) to the Rejecters (of faith); if they desist (from Unbelief), their
past would be forgiven them; ……..
The
appropriate translation would be:
8:38 Say (O
Prophet) to the Persecutors (Kafaru); if they desist (from persecution),
their past would be forgiven them; ……..
This is
because nowhere does the Quran command fighting against polytheism, disbelief,
rejection of belief, etc., but only against the Oppressor/Persecutor who fights
against you.
Kafaru is a
rejecter, and a Persecutor is a rejecter of the Universal moral code against
persecution and, therefore, “Kafaru”.
Muhkam
and Mutashabih Verses
Zafarul-Islam
describes Muhkam verses as fundamental, whose meanings are precise and do not
require any special effort to explain, and Mutashabih verses as ambiguous,
whose meanings are obscure; hence, they may be interpreted in several ways. He
further says, “This is based on the assertion in the Quran (3:7) that some of
its ayahs are muhkam and others are Mutashabih, whose meanings
are known to Allah. These include allegories, similes and metonymy. Muslims are
advised not to indulge in disputes about Mutashabih Ayahs”.
The above
has been the traditional approach, and scholars freely classify any verse
unclear to them as Mutashabih, even if it does not contain any simile, allegory
or metonymy. For example, are the verses on inheritance viz. 4:11, 12 and 176
Muhkam or Mutashabih? These are most certainly Muhkam, although poorly
understood to this day by every scholar, past and present.
Muhkam
verses contain Allah’s commands and decrees (Ihkam) and constitute the
religion of Islam, its prohibitions and moral imperatives.
Mutashabih
verses are descriptive verses that describe various things, such as the
beginning of the Universe, its end, creation, procreation, natural phenomena,
Heaven, Hell, etc. These necessarily contain words that are similitudes for two
reasons:
1. If
the subject of the verse is Al-Ghayab or the Unseen, the reality will be
experienced only in the Hereafter, and therefore, there will never be an exact
word to describe it.
2. The
knowledge of what is being described by the verse was unavailable to the people
at the time of the Quran's revelation; therefore, the precise word/vocabulary
to describe it had not yet been coined.
The
Mutashabih verses are neither ambiguous nor open to several meanings. We will
fully understand these verses when our knowledge about what is described
becomes perfect. Until such time, since the people are trying to understand the
verse in terms of their defective knowledge, and what the verse says does not
conform with their mistaken belief, it will be interpreted in multiple ways.
Allah asks us to avoid disputes based on speculating about a matter we do not
know. Today, the meaning of every Mutashabih verse is clear to those who have
perfect knowledge of the subject of the verse. I have covered every Mutashabih
verse in my articles.
Schools
of Tafsir
Zafarul-Islam
writes, there are two major schools of Tafsir:
1. Tafsir
according to received knowledge, ie, the Quran, Hadith and Sunnah of the
Prophet and sayings of his Companions
2. Tafsir
by opinion or conjecture. The opinion is
based on ijtihad or rational thinking based on a thorough knowledge of the
context of the revelation, Arabic language and poetry, and knowledge of Naskh
in the Quran, etc.
Both
approaches are problematic. The Quran provides clear evidence that even the
Prophet was unable to understand how the division of inheritance detailed in
verses 4:11 and 4:12 was to be made if the deceased died “Kalalah” or
without descendants. This necessitated revealing verse 4:176, the very last
verse revealed after a considerable period when the people kept asking for
clarity, which the Prophet could not provide. The revelation of verse 4:176
“solved” the problem by making siblings inherit in the manner of how the
children would have inherited if they existed. Verse 4:176 today is
superfluous, and we can divide the inheritance based on 4:11 and 4:12 alone.
Incidentally, verse 4:176 contradicts verse 4:12 because what was envisaged
earlier for the siblings has been changed by making them residuary on par with
how the children of the deceased inherit.
The verses
on how inheritance is to be divided among the heirs are clearly Muhkam and yet
poorly understood. Zafarul-Islam says “Kalalah” has been considered one
of the most difficult Islamic terms. There is no difficulty in understanding
its meaning in the context of the Quran. It means a deceased without
descendants. The real difficulty of the scholars and the people in the
Prophet’s times was dealing with the division if the deceased had no
descendants and, later, reconciling 4:176 with 4:12, which it contradicts. Some
scholars have explained the contradiction by saying that the siblings in 4:12
are uterine (sharing the same mother), and the siblings in 4:176 are agnate
(sharing the same father). This is nonsensical. A child inherits only from a
natural mother/father, not a foster or stepparent. This subject is covered
comprehensively in my article:
Inadequacies and Errors of
Classical Islamic Fiqh - Inheritance Related Calculations
The word of
God is not to be understood based on opinion or conjecture. One may as well
admit that he does not understand a verse instead of conjecturing or expressing
his opinion. If Ijtihad means logical inferences, it is neither opinion nor
conjecture and provides a firm basis for correctly understanding the Quran.
This is covered in my article:
The
Quran Is Logically Consistent and Unambiguous
Allah has
not made the understanding of His revelations dependent upon following that of
our predecessors. The Quran has in itself and by itself the requisite
properties to correctly understand the meaning of each verse. When the
understanding is imperfect, it is because something is lacking in our knowledge
about the subject or if our approach is based on incorrect preconceived
notions, which may be based on defective scholarship.
Some Of
My Articles On Widely Misunderstood Muhkam Verses:
Is
A Woman’s Testimony Worth Half That of A Man?
The
Process for Divorce in the Quran
Inadequacies and Errors of
Classical Islamic Fiqh - Inheritance Related Calculations
Are Hudud Laws In Islam Or Quranic Punishments Barbaric?
The Law on Adultery in the Quran
The Quran on Homosexual Relations
Some Of
My Articles On Poorly Understood Mutashabih Verses:
An
Exposition of the Verse of Light (Ayat al-Nur)
The Enigmatic Verses of the Quran
Faith
and the Importance of Explicit Knowledge
The Fairy Tale of Alam-e-Arwah
-----
A frequent contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Naseer
Ahmed is an Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur and is an independent IT
consultant after having served in both the Public and Private sector in
responsible positions for over three decades. He has spent years studying Quran
in-depth and made seminal contributions to its interpretation.
URL: https://newageislam.com/books-documents/glorious-quran-english-translation-zafarul/d/131819
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