Finding a Good "Study Qur'an"

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SalomeBintullah

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The other day I went to an Islamic event on campus. They had some free paperback Qur’ans on a table so naturally I picked one up. I don’t have it with me right now, but it’s called English Translation of the Message of the Qur’an. It says that it’s been approved by Al-Azhar and an Indonesian Islamic organization that I can’t remember.

Unfortunately, it has very narrow margins and no space between the verses. I’d like to find a sturdy paperback (preferably one that stays open easily) or an inexpensive hardcover that I could use as a sort of study Qur’an like we Christians have study Bibles where we scribble notes in the margins, use tabs to help us find specific subjects easier, etc. I know that Muslims don’t typically write in their holy book and I mean no disrespect. I’d just like a copy like this so it’s more convenient for me to study. Does anyone know of any good (easy to read), approved translations that are published in a convenient format? Aside from this new Qur’an that I just got, I also have the M.A.S. Abdel Haleem translation from Oxford World Classics. I know that translations like A. Yusuf Ali’s have wide margins but that translation is clunky with faux King James English. Any tips will be greatly appreciated. 🙂
 
SalomeBintullah said:
Thank you, that looks like a very eye-pleasing setup. Do you happen to know of any print versions that are as convenient? I’m hoping to get one that has generous margins that I can write in.🙂
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I’m not sure dude, I have this one leatherbound Quran I got from a library though.
 
The following may be of help?

The main stumbling block to understanding the Qur’an is Arabic, there are good translations (I recommend Oxford University Press translated by Abdel Haleem for accessability) but none will be able to render all the shades of meaning. The 6235 verse are also quite onerous and some require expert explanation and so maybe reading something like ‘Essential Koran’ by the eminent Thomas Cleary. If you want to delve a little more into the meanings then you need to look at one of the authoritative commentaries (tafsir), there are painfully few translated and they can be many volumes long. The generally held view is that the best complete tafsir in English is Maariful Quran by Mufti Shafi Usmani - which you can find online in a rather unhelpful format at: islamibayanaat.com/EMQ.htm. A more brief tafsir that is read all over the Muslim World is Al Jalalayn, a very good translation was done by Aisha Beweley but a decent free version can be found at: altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=0&tSoraNo=1&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=no&LanguageID=2. Hope that helps.

PS: Met lovely Catholic Polish PhD student the other day… I can see why you’re proud to be Polish 🙂
 
men0wjv said:
The following may be of help?

The main stumbling block to understanding the Qur’an is Arabic, there are good translations (I recommend Oxford University Press translated by Abdel Haleem for accessability) but none will be able to render all the shades of meaning. The 6235 verse are also quite onerous and some require expert explanation and so maybe reading something like ‘Essential Koran’ by the eminent Thomas Cleary. If you want to delve a little more into the meanings then you need to look at one of the authoritative commentaries (tafsir), there are painfully few translated and they can be many volumes long. The generally held view is that the best complete tafsir in English is Maariful Quran by Mufti Shafi Usmani - which you can find online in a rather unhelpful format at: islamibayanaat.com/EMQ.htm. A more brief tafsir that is read all over the Muslim World is Al Jalalayn, a very good translation was done by Aisha Beweley but a decent free version can be found at: altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=0&tSoraNo=1&tAyahNo=1&tDisplay=no&LanguageID=2. Hope that helps.

PS: Met lovely Catholic Polish PhD student the other day… I can see why you’re proud to be Polish 🙂
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Thank you very much for the links. I would love to be able to read the Qur’an in the original Classical Arabic someday. Unfortunately I don’t have the resources (or the time) available to do that right now. I’ve been checking the internet to see if there are any sites or organizations that offer free classes.
 
Well, I was going to say that I like my Abdullah Yusuf Ali copy, but you said you don’t like it. Eh, okay.

I recommend that you read the Koran in chronological order, rather than the numbered order it’s printed in. The story is so much easier to follow that way. (I say the same thing about the Bible too.) I got my ordering from the Moslem site submission.org/suras/app23.html

As a companion to the Koran you might like the very large book What Islam Is All About by Yahiya Emerick.

🙂
 
There are a lot of sites that will send you a free Quran. I don’t know about the margins of all of them though. I would give you some links to these sites but I do not wish to link to a site that promotes Islam which rejects the divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ, among other false things. If you do a Google search for “free Quran” it should bring up a number of sites that will send you one free of charge. 🙂
 
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