• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

I want to read the Quran for educational reasons.

Ellen Brown

Well-Known Member
So, read it. It is about half the length of the NT, and is a collection of sayings, not a story in any sense of the word. Jesus, whom they call Isa PBUH is in it, a whole chapter. They say that Jesus can not be the Son of God because of the way they see God, Allah SWT. The Muslims to are caught up in trying to explain Allah SWT, thus effectively limiting him. It is actually a cultural issue, not a theological one.

Muslims say that the Yusuf Ali interpretation is the best.
 

Ellen Brown

Well-Known Member
In many ways I am still largely Muslim, for Psychological reasons. I don't insist that this makes sense, but I love the modesty in Islam, and feel most comfortable with it. I think that when a person is prostrate on the floor, crying out for forgiveness, that is absolute humility before Allah SWT.

I agree that parts of Christianity seems wonky to me, and not of Jesus at all but was inserted into the belief before the 7th Century by those who did not know him. In the four Gospels, Jesus is all about mercy and forgiveness and I see that being largely absent in modern Christianity. I think the Gospels written after radically changed the direction of Christianity.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Niblo

Active Member
Premium Member
Would you like to suggest an English translation?

I would recommend ‘The Study Qur’an – a New Translation and Commentary’; edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr.

Professor M.A.S. Abdel Haleem’s ‘Qur’an’ is an excellent translation; but for in-depth study purpose, the S.Q. is better.
 

Firemorphic

Activist Membrane
I would recommend ‘The Study Qur’an – a New Translation and Commentary’; edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr.

Professor M.A.S. Abdel Haleem’s ‘Qur’an’ is an excellent translation; but for in-depth study purpose, the S.Q. is better.

I love Seyyed Hossein Nasr's work. Although I haven't read "The Study Qur'an" personally (which I've heard some very great things about....aside from controversy coming from other camps within the Ummah), I have read many of his other books and he does a great job contextualizing Islamic history and it's merits within a diverse range of contexts. He gets a thumbs up from me!
 

Niblo

Active Member
Premium Member
I love Seyyed Hossein Nasr's work. Although I haven't read "The Study Qur'an" personally (which I've heard some very great things about....aside from controversy coming from other camps within the Ummah), I have read many of his other books and he does a great job contextualizing Islamic history and it's merits within a diverse range of contexts. He gets a thumbs up from me!

He is a Shaykh of the Shadhili Tariqa. My son is a murid of his. Yes, a thumbs up from me, too.

My daughter in law (a šarīfah - an Alamī Idrisid) is a descendant of ʻAbd al-Salām ibn Mashīsh al-ʻAlamī , who was the teacher of Sheikh al-Shadhili. My Muslim family live in Morocco.
 
Last edited:

Firemorphic

Activist Membrane
He is a Shaykh of the Shadhili Tariqa. My son is a murid of his. Yes, a thumbs up from me, too.

My daughter in law (a šarīfah - an Alamī Idrisid) is a descendant of ʻAbd al-Salām ibn Mashīsh al-ʻAlamī , who was the teacher of Sheikh al-Shadhili. My Muslim family live in Morocco.

That is really, really awesome :) Have you ever met him? (obviously your son has, which would be a great connection to have in one's family!)
He's also part of a philosophical lineage related to Rene Guenon, Henry Corbin (one of my favorite writers), Frithjof Scuon etc that are all important to me personally. But yeah, Seyyed Hossein Nasr is very great (I love his books on cosmology, philosophy and Sufism especially), it's cool to hear this from you! :cool:
 

Niblo

Active Member
Premium Member
That is really, really awesome :) Have you ever met him? (obviously your son has, which would be a great connection to have in one's family!)
He's also part of a philosophical lineage related to Rene Guenon, Henry Corbin (one of my favorite writers), Frithjof Scuon etc that are all important to me personally. But yeah, Seyyed Hossein Nasr is very great (I love his books on cosmology, philosophy and Sufism especially), it's cool to hear this from you! :cool:

I've not met him. My son met him, for the first time, in New York...about 15 years ago. He interviewed my son, over a period of days, and then agreed to accept him as a murid. I don't know how often they meet. I have a number of Nasr's books. Very good, as you say.
 

Ellen Brown

Well-Known Member
I like Pickthall which was recommended by Palestinian friends.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmaduke_Pickthall

When I was interacting with the Mormons, they showed me the work of their "Islamic Scholars". They made major errors in even basic Islam. I used the interpretation of Yusuf Ali, an English citizen living in the UK. I will say that lots of the islam practiced today bears little resemblance to the belief outlined in the Quran. The Fatwas have taken the belief into major error.
 

SA Huguenot

Well-Known Member
You should actually get Osama Dakdok's translation of the "Generous Quran".
His mother tounge is Arabic, and he translated the Quran to English with no whitewashing as does Muslim translators.
Then you can also go for the "Final Testament translation" by Rashad Khalifa PHD. he gave evidence of wholesale chanches and corruptions from the Hadith on the Quran.
I personaly love the Corpus Quran Word for Word website where one can find the correct meaning of the Arabic in English.
Then there is also another Quran, the Circle 7 Quran by prophet Drew Ali.
It also depends if you can read Arabic, there are 26 different versions of the Quran in Arab.
4 are well known versions. the Hafs, Warsh, Quallon and Al Duri.
They all differe from each other with different words, some call Allah He, and others We.
Just this singular 3rd person versus plural 1st person is a great eye opener when you realise that Allah never spoke himself, but either Muhammad of Gabriel was refering to Allah as He!
Enjoy.
 

sooda

Veteran Member
You should actually get Osama Dakdok's translation of the "Generous Quran".
His mother tounge is Arabic, and he translated the Quran to English with no whitewashing as does Muslim translators.
Then you can also go for the "Final Testament translation" by Rashad Khalifa PHD. he gave evidence of wholesale chanches and corruptions from the Hadith on the Quran.
I personaly love the Corpus Quran Word for Word website where one can find the correct meaning of the Arabic in English.
Then there is also another Quran, the Circle 7 Quran by prophet Drew Ali.
It also depends if you can read Arabic, there are 26 different versions of the Quran in Arab.
4 are well known versions. the Hafs, Warsh, Quallon and Al Duri.
They all differe from each other with different words, some call Allah He, and others We.
Just this singular 3rd person versus plural 1st person is a great eye opener when you realise that Allah never spoke himself, but either Muhammad of Gabriel was refering to Allah as He!
Enjoy.

Do you have a link for this cut and past?
 

sooda

Veteran Member
You should actually get Osama Dakdok's translation of the "Generous Quran".
His mother tounge is Arabic, and he translated the Quran to English with no whitewashing as does Muslim translators.
Then you can also go for the "Final Testament translation" by Rashad Khalifa PHD. he gave evidence of wholesale chanches and corruptions from the Hadith on the Quran.
I personaly love the Corpus Quran Word for Word website where one can find the correct meaning of the Arabic in English.
Then there is also another Quran, the Circle 7 Quran by prophet Drew Ali.
It also depends if you can read Arabic, there are 26 different versions of the Quran in Arab.
4 are well known versions. the Hafs, Warsh, Quallon and Al Duri.
They all differe from each other with different words, some call Allah He, and others We.
Just this singular 3rd person versus plural 1st person is a great eye opener when you realise that Allah never spoke himself, but either Muhammad of Gabriel was refering to Allah as He!
Enjoy.

Pichkthal is a good translation.

Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall (born Marmaduke William Pickthall ; 7 April 1875 – 19 May 1936) was a British Islamic scholar noted for his English translation of the Qur'an (1930).
Marmaduke Pickthall - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmaduke_Pickthall
 

Ellen Brown

Well-Known Member
Most of the Muslims that I know, believe that the Yusuf Ali interpretation is one of the best. He was a British Indian man who was educated in England.

My own 'opinion' is that the Quran is good, but the Fatwas often take Islam to a very dark place. The Hadeeths, supposedly done by Muhammad PBUH are at times very suspicious to me. The frustration of the 'Quran Only' Muslims is certainly understandable, though one who believes that way would want to be careful about revealing that belief.

Sadly, Islam is just as fragmented as Christianity and Judaism. What will Allah SWT do with us ???
 

Firemorphic

Activist Membrane
Most of the Muslims that I know, believe that the Yusuf Ali interpretation is one of the best. He was a British Indian man who was educated in England.

Yeah, it's decent, it's a good introductory translation for the most part. There's no getting around the 'thou, thee, thine' etc though.

My own 'opinion' is that the Quran is good

That's an understatement! :hearteyes:

The Hadeeths, supposedly done by Muhammad PBUH are at times very suspicious to me.

Yes, well no Muslim is meant to take them at face value unless provided otherwise, and it depends what your reading from who and were etc.

The frustration of the 'Quran Only' Muslims is certainly understandable, though one who believes that way would want to be careful about revealing that belief.

They tend to completely miss the folly of that position but putting the Qur'an first should be any Muslim's priority to begin with.

Sadly, Islam is just as fragmented as Christianity and Judaism. What will Allah SWT do with us ???

Are you kidding? there's two sides of the coin, Shi'i and Sunni, both directly coming out of the succession of the Prophet (pbuh) himself. There isn't anything else (in it's initial state) more substantial than that. Ibadism for instance, is not very big. Anything else tends to be
The big political influence of Wahhabism/Salfism is just a reincarnation of the Kharijites, trying to wipe out Sunnis and Shi'i, they're not orthodox Muslims and have to be recognized as the modern phenomenon that they really are.
Salafis try to paint it like there is more splits than there is though, in order to supplant themselves, it's typical rhetoric on their side.
Things like Ahmadiyya fall within Sunni tradition but basing it's identity around a specific figure, differing on several points but springing out of claim to fulfillment of Sunni eschatology.

Christianity didn't actually have that many denominations btw before Protestantism, most Christian denominations happen to also be sects of Protestantism - which essentially produced a mindset of "invent your own Christianity".

Judaism doesn't have any major splits aside from "reform-Jews" and Hasidism especially. You could make a case for the whole Orthodox vs Karaite thing but it's not that substantial, especially in comparison to the "Protestant vs Catholic" thing.
 

Ellen Brown

Well-Known Member
Yeah, it's decent, it's a good introductory translation for the most part. There's no getting around the 'thou, thee, thine' etc though.



That's an understatement! :hearteyes:



Yes, well no Muslim is meant to take them at face value unless provided otherwise, and it depends what your reading from who and were etc.



They tend to completely miss the folly of that position but putting the Qur'an first should be any Muslim's priority to begin with.



Are you kidding? there's two sides of the coin, Shi'i and Sunni, both directly coming out of the succession of the Prophet (pbuh) himself. There isn't anything else (in it's initial state) more substantial than that. Ibadism for instance, is not very big. Anything else tends to be
The big political influence of Wahhabism/Salfism is just a reincarnation of the Kharijites, trying to wipe out Sunnis and Shi'i, they're not orthodox Muslims and have to be recognized as the modern phenomenon that they really are.
Salafis try to paint it like there is more splits than there is though, in order to supplant themselves, it's typical rhetoric on their side.
Things like Ahmadiyya fall within Sunni tradition but basing it's identity around a specific figure, differing on several points but springing out of claim to fulfillment of Sunni eschatology.

Christianity didn't actually have that many denominations btw before Protestantism, most Christian denominations happen to also be sects of Protestantism - which essentially produced a mindset of "invent your own Christianity".

Judaism doesn't have any major splits aside from "reform-Jews" and Hasidism especially. You could make a case for the whole Orthodox vs Karaite thing but it's not that substantial, especially in comparison to the "Protestant vs Catholic" thing.

I'll PM you.
 

Wasp

Active Member
You should actually get Osama Dakdok's translation of the "Generous Quran".
His mother tounge is Arabic, and he translated the Quran to English with no whitewashing as does Muslim translators.
Then you can also go for the "Final Testament translation" by Rashad Khalifa PHD. he gave evidence of wholesale chanches and corruptions from the Hadith on the Quran.
I personaly love the Corpus Quran Word for Word website where one can find the correct meaning of the Arabic in English.
Then there is also another Quran, the Circle 7 Quran by prophet Drew Ali.
It also depends if you can read Arabic, there are 26 different versions of the Quran in Arab.
4 are well known versions. the Hafs, Warsh, Quallon and Al Duri.
They all differe from each other with different words, some call Allah He, and others We.
Just this singular 3rd person versus plural 1st person is a great eye opener when you realise that Allah never spoke himself, but either Muhammad of Gabriel was refering to Allah as He!
Enjoy.
"An accurate, modern English translation of the Qur'an, Islam's holiest book. "The Generous Qur'an" by native Arabic speaker, Usama K. Dakdok, is a true study Qur'an, filled with cross-references, study notes, and a wealth of supplemental information. This much-needed translation reveals many of the flaws contained in the Qur'an, including numerous contradictions and the host of historical and scientific errors that abound within the text. Muslim apologists and Muslim translators have sought to soften and obscure many of the troubling passages within the Qur'an, but this accurate, modern English translation provides a trustworthy and reliable version of the teachings of Mohammed as revealed in the Qur'an."

This one?

So you do use the translator word for word. Why didn't you use it with the slave/prostitution bit that I had to tell you about in the other thread?
 

Ellen Brown

Well-Known Member
"An accurate, modern English translation of the Qur'an, Islam's holiest book. "The Generous Qur'an" by native Arabic speaker, Usama K. Dakdok, is a true study Qur'an, filled with cross-references, study notes, and a wealth of supplemental information. This much-needed translation reveals many of the flaws contained in the Qur'an, including numerous contradictions and the host of historical and scientific errors that abound within the text. Muslim apologists and Muslim translators have sought to soften and obscure many of the troubling passages within the Qur'an, but this accurate, modern English translation provides a trustworthy and reliable version of the teachings of Mohammed as revealed in the Qur'an."

This one?

So you do use the translator word for word. Why didn't you use it with the slave/prostitution bit that I had to tell you about in the other thread?

Islam has wisdom that is good for anyone, so I encourage everyone to read the Quran.
 
Top