|
The Present Translation
The present text was translated by the Iraqi-English scholar Dr Feras Hamza and edited by Dr Reza
Shah-Kazemi, Dr Yousef Meri and myself. I believe it to be particularly commendable for its commitment to
the
meaning of the original, and even, where possible, to its word order. It will easily stand-up to academic
scrutiny, and at the same time it is accessible to the simplest of readers, for whom in fact it was meant. It is
also bound
in sh
ā
' All
ā
h to attract academic attention for the simple reason that it is the first classical Tafs
ī
r
to appear
in toto in English ever!
[16]
Its publication should thus be an event of some significance not only for
Islamic studies in English, but for English-speaking Muslims interested in further study of the Holy Qur’an.
The Aal al-Bayt Institute’s
Great Tafs
ī
r Project
This translation and publication of Jal
ā
layn’s
Tafs
ī
r was commissioned by the Aal al-Bayt Institute for
Islamic Thought, for its Great Tafs
ī
r Project (see: www.altafsir.com). The Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic
Thought is an international Islamic charitable institute based in Jordan whose mission is to ‘preserve, protect
and propagate traditional Islamic thought, spirituality, culture, heritage and unity’. It is unique in the modern
world because its charter specifically the seven
madhhabs (the four Sunni madhhabs — Shafi‘i, Hanafi,
Maliki, Hanbali — the Shi‘i Ja‘fari and Zaydi madhhabs, and the Ibadi madhhab), and Islamic Theology,
Philosophy and Mysticism. It consists of a centre in Amman, Jordan that undertakes charitable intellectual
projects for the Islamic Nation
or Umma, and an international fellowship comprising up to one hundred
senior fellows and fifty fellows selected from the top scholars, sheikhs, imams, jurists, qadis, religious affairs
ministers, philanthropists and religious activists of the entire Islamic world from over forty countries, who
meet every other year in Jordan to explore and discuss a given theme, and publish the result of their
symposium.
One of the many projects undertaken by the Aal al-Bayt Institute’s centre in Jordan is the
aforementioned
Great Tafs
ī
r Project. This project consists mainly of a unique free website
(currently visited by an average of over a million visitors a year but built to handle 100x that
number) of over a hundred of Islam’s greatest
Tafs
ī
rs (from all madhhabs, and from every epoch
and country, some of which have never been properly edited or published in book form) and
essential resources for the study of the Holy Qur’an and
Tafs
ī
r (such as a word-for-word
concordance etc.), in addition to around twenty translations of the Qur’an into the world’s major
languages; to a number of specially commissioned translations of various Classical
Tafs
ī
rs into
English and to on-line
til
ā
wa and tajw
ī
d (oral recitation) of the Qur’an in all different readings
(
qir
ā
’
ā
t) and tones (maq
ā
m
ā
t). The whole project thus consists of around a million pages,
(hundreds of volumes, worth thousands of dollars in book-form) typed-in (and not scanned — this
is unique, but necessary in order to have search engines within the
Tafs
ī
rs themselves) to the
altafsir.com website. Essentially, it is an effort to make the Word of God and the sum total of what
men have understood and written about it throughout history available, for free, to the whole of
humanity, at the click of a button.
[17]
This translation of
Jal
ā
layn is the first to be completed of the series of translations of Tafs
ī
r
commissioned especially for the Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought’s Great
Tafs
ī
r Project (the
others, to date, include Ibn 'Abb
ā
s, W
āḥ
id
ī
, Tus
ṭ
ar
ī
, Bay
ḍā
w
ī
, K
ā
sh
ā
n
ī
, Qushayr
ī
,
Ṭ
abar
ī
, Nasaf
ī
,
Suy
ūṭī
’s
Itq
ā
n, and in sha Allah Fakhr Al-Din Al-R
ā
z
ī
). In addition merely posting it on the internet,
it is a great honour and blessing for us to be able to publish in book form. We pray that God forgive
us any mistakes and inadequacies in it.
x
HRH Prince Dr. Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal
Professor of Islamic Philosophy, Jordan University;
Founder and Director of the
Great Tafsir Project
;
Chairman of the Board of Trustees,
Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought
Amman, Jordan
2007 CE/1428 AH
xi
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
