[.ca] An English Interpretation of the Holy Quran (ISBN 9694320003)

Very helpful translation ....:
After the events of September 11th, 2001, I became very interested as a seminary student in learning as much as I could about Islam, since there seemed to be so many untrue rumours about it floating around after these tragic events. First on the list of items that I wanted to purchase was a Qu'ran, to go right to the primary source. I looked at many different traslations to see which would be the most helpful for me as I started to read this important work, and of all the ones I looked at, this one by A. Ali Yusuf was the best. I cannot comment on the quality of the tranlsation per se because I do not speak Arabic, but I will say that the way this translation is laid out, with the English and Arabic right next to each other, makes for very relaxed and focused reading; just the visual asthetics of Arabic is breathtaking, and the English is organized and simple to work through. A reading plan at the beginning of the text explains the way in which the Qu'ran is usually read over time: a pronunciation guide is also available in front of the book.

The New American Standard Version for a new age:
This version is more accurately the New American Standard Version, analogous to the new versions of the Bible where "man" has been changed to "people", etc. It has been rewritten to suit a newer, gentler version of Islam, and can be used to gain many recruits who are not familiar with the more violent aspects of the beginnings of the faith. This was a devious move, since the more accurate translations are quite unpalatable in the USA. On the one hand, women will benefit greatly from this new version. On the other hand, the author has not been completely honest about what he has done here. So it is a "mixed bag." But it's a good strategy because sites like answering-islam.org use the more accurate translations in their questioning of the faith, and has caused a lot of doubts within the community. This version will give us a good way to move away from that problem. Some say it's almost like admitting that the Prophet and his earliest followers were wrong about what they thought the Quran said, about killing infidels and troublemakers, but most Americans are not knowledgeable about this anyway. I give it only 3 stars because Ali has done a foolish thing by including the Arabic text, which contradicts his translation in some places, and also shows some grammatical errors in the original.

Sallam Aleikom my friends...:
I converted to Islam right after reading this book! Three times! And as you can see I have no qualms about posting the same review over and over again in an attempt to raise the ratings of this great book. Dawood's translation was more accurate, but I see where Ali's rewriting may serve our purpose temporarily, and may also be necesarry. Then, after we have prevailed, the true words may be restored. Until then ... "Men are the managers of women for that God has preferred in bounty one of them over another, and for that they have expended of their property" (Sura al-Nisa' 4:34)

Great version:
Many Muslims have complained that this version does not translate the true meaning of the original Arabic, and softens it for Western ears. Yusuf Ali's misrendering of verses on spuosal discipline is hard to accept, I agree totally. Some even call it blasphemy. But Friends, be patient. Think. There is a reason for this to be done. If you feed a camel 100 tons of water, he will kick you, but if you give him a small cup of water at a time he will befriend you. In some countries we cannot yet implement "some" verses in Sura 9 (and indeed there are many of those who call themselves Muslims who ignore such) and until then we feed them 2:256, and Ali's version. Truly, Ali has accomplished in this version what he set out to accomplish, for reasons you will understand later. In time you will see that his departures from the true words were needed for our success.

Not so much a translation as an apology:
I wrote a detailed review many moons ago about how this edition is not so much a translation as a rewriting. Ali fails to take this opportunity to address the well-known problems such as the grammatical and historical errors, and instead adds words throughout the text to make it more palatable to Western readers, in many places changing the meaning completely. In fact this distortion of the text should be considered blasphemy, if not for the fact that some adherents consider deception to be an acceptable means of advancing the cause. The fact that all reviews for this item seem to have been quietly removed perhaps speaks volumes about the plain meaning of its unadorned teachings, discomfort with what Ali has done, or the power of its adherents to silence doubts.