I am trying to learn the quran in english and I was told Yusuf ali's tranlsation is a very authentic one, but then I read this:
am extremely disappointed that all recent versions published after 9/11 have many changes in the translation and commentary, all made in the name of modernization and revision. But unfortunately these changes are in such key topics e.g. women dress code and usury that do not do justice with the open mindedness of the Quranic Arabic text......
Full review here-http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/1590080165/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
I also found this link which shows some changes made:
Rhttp://www.**************tahrif/yusufali/index.htm
So I dont really know which quran translation to get . I really wanted one that is accurate and not 'over translated' to a point where the meaning is changed. Im trying to find one with arabic and commentery all together.
Please could someone with more experience than me adivise me on what to do.
. For instance, there are places where the translator dismisses the concept of the Jinn as simply a variety of unseen beings. While as Muslims we believe they are the offspring of Iblis and among them are good and bad characters like in Humanity. Also, many of the miracles the Quran points to as proof of Allah's great power are washed over and given scientific explanations (possibly not as correlated with current science as the original meaning) that seek to make them more digestable for the modern age. These are just a few examples of the problems with the translation.
This is why im so confused about what to get, sorry for the messy posts.
Last edited by AabiruSabeel; 07-24-2009 at 04:01 AM.
Reason: The search links to an unauthentic site.
I wouldn't recommend any translation because by default there is a lot lost in translation. Not to mention that a translation will not give you an understanding of the verses, but simply a gist of what it is being said. Also to note is that Yusuf Ali's (and a lot others) translation is given in a type of English that the people don't even speak commonly, using words like "Thee", "Thine" and "Thou" etc. Therefore, I suggest that you pick up a Tafsir of the Qur'an and use that to guide your study. Here is one of the best:
^second, never depend on a single tafeer though, since they all are in the end their own writers' opinions, tafseer generally is not dependent on ahadeeth as much as personal interpretation, of course there were cases where there is a very specific story to a group of verses, but that's the exception.
note, Ibn Kathir as well as every other tafseer are majorly personal attempts that yes sometimes do include narrations form the companions and even more rarely the prophet's, but on the other hand also contain many falsehoods as they depended on Jewish and other non-reliable sources for stories concerning the prophets and miracles and so on, so I'd advise taking it all with a grain of salt.
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