The Holy Koran: An Interpretive Translation from Classical Arabic Into Contemporary English

The Holy Koran is a timeless text, but time has weighted it with interpretations and contextualizations that have distorted the original message. In an effort to reilluminate the text, Dr. Mohamed K. Jasser returned to its original incarnation as it appeared in classical Arabic ages ago, free of 1500 years of interpretation and amendment. This new translation into modern English brings the recitations of Mohammed into the contemporary world and finds new vitality in the verses most dear to more than 1.5 billion people in the world today. Dr. Jasser writes, Interpretation of the Koran belongs to anyone who feels qualified to do it. Interpretations can be right in many things and wrong in some. The guide should be the language, logic, and measuring the Koran against itself, such as noting the use of certain words in one place and comparing this with the way they are used in other places. The Koran recognizes no hierarchy for accepted interpretations. The Koran clearly states, ‘No clergy in Islam.’ Those who interpret the Koran correctly shall be rewarded by God, and those who do it incorrectly shall be punished by Him, and those who are incapable of interpretation will have to depend on the work of others, and then make a judgement on their own.