QURAN And syed Modudi

 The Quran is the foundation and mainstay of islamic faith, life and culture. Islam and the Muslim Ummah are unique in so far as their bedrock is primarily a book -The Qur'an. The Book gave the muslims their distinct worldview and vision of life . Historically speaking, The Qur'an performed the great feat of transforming a motley group of warring tribes of seventh -century into the Muslim Ummah which soon developed into a dynamic world community with message of humanity at large. It not only fashioned the historical personality of the muslims but also remained the main source of inspiration and guidance throughout the fourteen centuries of their history.

The Qur'an-uncreated word of God though it doubtlessly is - was revealed and communicated through the medium of human language- Arabic. No wonder its orginal text remains a living miracle in a variety of ways. Hence those who know Arabic have access to whole universe of meaning which is not easy for others to reach. For it is only by reading the Qur'an in the orginal that one is exposed to its true beauty and grandeur. It is only the orginal Arabic Qur'an that can make one appreciate" that inimitable symphony the very sound of which moves man to tears and ecstasy " as Muhammad Marmaduke pickthall has aptly put it.

Even the best translations can never transport the Qur'ans vast universe of meaning, or its astounding beauty and grandeur to their readers. The Qur'an in this sense was always and will always remain untranslatable. Moreover these translations make a dull reading compared to sparkling orginal.

The uncountable exegists struggled their best to explain and exegesis of Holy Qur'an in different ways and different in methodologies, according to their existing prevailing circumstances of their own age giving so many references. In this regard one was Mawlana mawdudi (R A).

A great Muslim scholar of 20th century, Mawlana sayyid abu ala mawdudi (1903 -1979) was conscious that a fresh effort to translate and explain the Quran was needed for urdu reading public. In response to that he devoted several decades of his life and produced his monumental work ,TAFHEEM UL QURAN , which is a unique contribution to the contemporary literature on the exegesis of the Quran.

Reading Tafheem one feels as if God is somewhere around commenting on our current situation. Tafheem’s originality lies in the fact that for the first time it brought forth the political subtext of the Quran to engage with the modern secular thought currents that have fundamentally a political content and transformation of man and his environment for securing this worldly progress. It highlights the distance between the profane enterprize of secular progress and Islamic vision of integral falah (realization of human potential) of man. It brilliantly highlights problems inherited from Modernity and insightfully proposes solutions from what he thinks to be the Islamic perspective.

It is Syed Moududi who translated the Quran in the language of the laity or moderately educated masses and succeeded in bringing the Quran from the inaccessible shelves in our rooms or secret cloisters of students of Madrasas or mystifying abstractions of more academic circles or amulet selling babas to the streets or coffee shops. His attempt to reach out to masses through Tafheem (his other writings are developed footnotes on its themes and could not be ignored by either scholars or masses interested in assimilating Islam in their lives as they engage with the Quran)  has been  successful and in fact quite impactful. One can’t ignore him though can be critical of him. He has helped to shape subcontinent’s history in many ways that are evident to students of modern Muslim history, especially Islamist movements. One can trace a series of developments from him and his fellow traveler on the path Syed Qutb to Muhammad Mursi. Islamic inspiration for Middle East uprisings can’t be factored out. Revival of Islamic banking and a host of other institutions owe something to Syed Moududi and his magnum opus Tafheem-ul-Quran.

The traveling through tafheem is marvelous. He beautifully changed the oral dialect of Arabic into the written dialect urdu. The historical background of every chapter in tafheem is matchless, the beauty becomes radiant when we see the connection between the verse and historical background. More or less the biography of our Prophet Muhammad (S A W) can be seen in this high sparkling writting. Besides Mawlana has worked greatly on Quranic terminology, and the definition of one terminology differs with difference in contexts . E.g kufr ,he has translated it with same word "kufr" because of dynamism of Arabic language,but in commentary you can see the difference with difference in context, 2nd example, the repeated verse of Surah Rahman.

Also sparkling beauty of his work is felt on any contrary issue. How he has beautified it with Quran, then hadith and sunnah and then other springs of knowledge. In jurisprudence, Mawlana has adopted the temperability and casuistry and on some issues, he has contradicted with Hanafi thought, despite being Hanafi . It implies he was free from intolerance and prejudice.

The shining of his work is again visible, as he has encouraged and used the temperament of research and quest.

When Mawlana visited the highlighted places of islamic world ,like Palestine, Egypt, saudi ,Shaam etc ,he has mentioned the investigations and results of this trip in Tafheem. His journey Colleague Mohammad Naseem has written a book on it called "arz UL Quran ".

Mawlana has given very encouraged space for comparative religion in his work and to compare the relegions, he has prioritized the Qur'an. Students of comparative religion can get much stock from his work. Also the stock and work on khatum e nabuwat is unparalleled in tafheem.

About his contribution, the scholars say,
Sheik ul hadith mawlana charag says" I am purely satisfied on this , in this modern world it is opportunity for youngsters to read tafheem".

Naeem sidiqi says" Mawlana gave us such a gift which a scholar , lawyer, student, teacher, or layman can understand ".

Justice tanzeel ur rahman says" we are indebted to Mawlana through this tafseer".

There it represents the monumental achievement. I pray to Allah to bless his effort and make it a light house for those who are stumbling in quest of the truth of which Quran is a unique repository. 

Written By SHAHEEN SUHAIL 

Pursuing Masters in Mathematics at Jammu and Kashmir institute of Mathematical sciences Srinagar .

Suhailbashir360@gmail.com