The Holy Qur'an for the Next Generation

   Alhumdulillah, Muslims live in every corner of the globe.  They speak every language and come in every variety of skin color, culture and ethnic group.   There are also many Muslims who live in countries where English language and culture are dominant.

    For Muslims whose native language is Urdu, Malay, Turkish or Swahili, there are good translations of the meaning of the Qur'an for them to study.  The same is not true for Muslims who speak English, especially for the youth and college aged Muslims.

    Translations which use awkward language, old-style English, unimaginative grammar constructs or dry, overly technical language are not serving English speaking Muslims very well.

    In fact, a new phenomenon has developed in the English speaking world.  Millions of born Muslims and converts are learning everything they know about Islam from books of 'aqeedah and other primers which explain Islamic teachings.  Hardly anyone learns Islam from the Qur'an.   Hence we have developed an "Islam without the Qur'an."

    This is a travesty, for no book of 'aqeedah or fiqh can replace the noble words of the Creator of everything.   To rectify this situation we will need a translation of the Qur'an that uses modern English grammar and words in an accurate and dependable format, easily accessible to native speakers of English. 

    We have three separate projects now.  Two of them are English only and are available now from Amazon.com  (One is a Kindle Edition, the other is an 804 page paperback.)  Those two are basic translations of the Qur'anic text with minimal background material, no tafseer and no introductory material or other resources.  An edition designed for kids is also on the drawing board.  

   A third, much, much larger work that is on the order and magnitude of a full tafseer is slated to be produced by ICNA and is now under review by scholars in Pakistan (as of 1/2010).  It contains 50% more material than the above-mentioned books and it also will contain a raft of useful appendices, introductory materials, biographies and almost 2,800 footnotes explaining more about the verses than you could ever imagine.  It will also contain the full Arabic text of the Qur'an.   Insha'llah this book will be available late in 2010 or early in 2011.