The Quran is the foundation and mainstay of Islamic faith, life and culture. Islam and the Muslim Ummah are unique in so far as their bedrock is primarily a book – the Qur’an. The Book gave Muslims their distinct worldview and vision of life. Historically speaking, the Qur’an performed the great feat of transforming a motley group of warring tribes of seventh century into the Muslim Ummah which soon developed into a dynamic world community with a universal message of humanity at large. It not only fashioned the historical personality of the Muslims but also remained the main source of inspiration and guidance throughout the fourteen centuries of their history.
The Qur’an – uncreated word of God though it doubtlessly is – was revealed and communicated through the medium of human language – Arabic. No wonder its original text remains a living miracle in a variety of ways. However, those who know Arabic have access to a whole universe of meaning which is not easy for others to reach. It is only by reading the Qur’an in the original that one is exposed to its true beauty and grandeur. It is only the original Arabic Qur’an that can make one appreciate “that inimitable symphony the very sound of which moves man to tears and ecstasy” as Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall has aptly put it.
Even the best translations can never transport the Qur’an’s vast universe of meaning, or its astounding beauty and grandeur to their readers. The Qur’an in this sense was always and will always remain untranslatable. Moreover, these translations make a dull reading compared to the sparkling original.
Countless exegesis have struggled to explain the holy Qur’an in different ways and different methodologies, according to the prevailing circumstances of their own age. In this regard one was Mawlana Mawdudi (RA). A great Muslim scholar of the 20th century, Mawlana Sayyid Abu Ala Mawdudi (1903-1979) was conscious that a fresh effort to translate and explain the Quran was needed for the Urdu reading public. In response to that he devoted several decades of his life and produced his monumental work, TAFHEEM UL QURAN, a unique contribution to the contemporary literature on the exegesis of the Quran.
Reading the Tafheem, one feels as if God is somewhere around commenting on our current situation. Tafheem’s originality lies in the fact that for the first time it brought forth the political subtext of the Quran to engage with the modern secular thought currents that have fundamentally a political content and transformation of man and his environment for securing this worldly progress. It highlights the distance between the profane enterprise of secular progress and Islamic vision of integral falah (realisation of human potential). It brilliantly highlights problems inherited from modernity and insightfully proposes solutions from what he thinks to be the Islamic perspective.
It is Syed Mawdudi who translated the Quran in the language of the laity, or moderately educated masses, and succeeded in bringing the Quran from inaccessible shelves to our rooms or secret cloisters of students of Madrasas or mystifying abstractions of more academic circles or amulet selling babas to the streets or coffee shops. His attempt to reach out to masses through Tafheem (his other writings are developed footnotes on its themes and could not be ignored by either scholars or masses interested in assimilating Islam in their lives as they engage with the Quran) has been successful and in fact quite impactful. One can’t ignore him though one can be critical of him. He has helped to shape the subcontinent’s history in many ways that are evident to students of modern Muslim history, especially Islamist movements. One can trace a series of developments from him and his fellow travellers on the path, from Syed Qutb to Muhammad Mursi. The Islamic inspiration for Middle East uprisings, the revival of Islamic banking, and a host of other institutions owe something to Syed Mawdudi and his magnum opus, Tafheem-ul-Quran.
Reading the Tafheem is a marvellous journey of discovery. He beautifully changed the oral dialect of Arabic into the written dialect of Urdu. The historical background of every chapter in the Tafheem is matchless. Its beauty becomes radiant when we see the connection between the verse and the historical background. More or less, the biography of our Prophet Muhammad (SAW) can be seen in this sparkling writing. Besides, the Mawlana has worked greatly on Quranic terminology, and the definition of one terminology differs with difference in context, e.g., kufr, which he has translated with same word “kufr” because of dynamism of Arabic language but in commentary you can see the difference with difference in context. Another example is the repeated verse of Surah Rahman.
In jurisprudence, the Mawlana has contradicted Hanafi thought, despite being a Hanafi. It implies he was free from intolerance and prejudice. He has encouraged and used the temperament of research and quest.
The Mawlana visited the holy places of the Islamic world, like Palestine, Egypt, Saudi, Shaam, etc. He has mentioned the consequences of these trips in Tafheem. His companion in his journeys, Mohammad Naseem, has written a book on it called “Arz ul Quran”.
The Mawlana has given much space to comparative religion in his work and to compare the religions he has prioritised the Qur’an. Students of comparative religion can get much stock from his work. Also the work on Khatum e Nabuwat is unparalleled in Tafheem.
I pray to Allah to bless his effort and make it a lighthouse for those who are stumbling in quest of the truth of which the Quran is a unique repository.

[email protected]

Shaheen Suhail