Noble Quran (Hilali–Khan)

The Noble Qur'an [4] is a translation of the Quran by Muhammad Muhsin Khan and Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali. It is available in many languages[5] and is "widely and freely distributed to hajj pilgrims".[6] It is published and printed at the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran, which is said to produce ten million copies of the Quran every year.[7]

Noble Quran (Hilali–Khan)
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AuthorMuhammad Muhsin Khan and Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
CountrySaudi Arabia
PublisherKing Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran
Versions: Noble Quran, Interpretation of the meanings of the Noble Quran,[1] The Noble Quran - English translations meanings and commentary,[2] Complete interpretation of the meaning of the Noble Quran.[3]
Quran
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Reading
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The Hilali–Khan, Noble Quran has been given a seal of approval from both the University of Medina and the Saudi Dar al-Ifta.[5] It is also the most widely disseminated Quran in most Islamic bookstores and Sunni mosques throughout the English-speaking world.[5] It is available in Airport musallahs.[8] The Saudi-financed translation is interspersed with commentaries from Tabari, Qurtubi, and Ibn Kathir.

Content

Various Hilali–Khan versions of the Quran contain parenthetical insertions,[1] tafsir/commentaries and appendices.[2][3] The Hilali–Khan translation has been criticized for inserting the interpretations of the Wahhabi school directly into the English rendition of the Quran. Many readers will not realise this content does not form part of the original Quran wording. The translation has been accused of inculcating Muslims and potential Muslims with militant interpretations of Islam through parenthetical comments and additions as teachings of the Quran itself.[9]

Criticism

Dr. Ahmed Farouk Musa, an academician at Monash University, considered the Hilali–Khan translation as being a major cause of extremism and a work of propaganda distributed by Saudi religious authorities with money from its oil-rich government.[6] Similarly, Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad, head of Bethesda's Minaret of Freedom Institute, has claimed that the translation is a Wahhabi rendering of the Quran and is not accepted by Muslims in the US.[10]

A number of academics have also criticized the Hilali–Khan translation on stylistic and linguistic grounds.[11] Dr William S. Peachy, an American professor of English at College of Medicine, King Saud University at Qasseem considered the translation "repulsive" and rejected by anyone outside of Saudi Arabia.[11] Dr. Abdel-Haleem, Arabic Professor at SOAS, London University, noted that he found the Hilali–Khan translation "repelling".[11]

The Director of King Fahd International Centre for Translation, King Saud University, Riyad, Dr. A. Al-Muhandis, expressed his dissatisfaction with the translation's style and language, being too poor and simplistic.[11]

A Hebrew translation of the Hilali–Khan Quran has been said to contain errors.[7]

The Hilali–Khan translation has also been criticised by Western academics; Robert Crane,[12] Mark Durie,[8] and Khaled Abou El Fadl,[13] Khaleel Mohammed,[5] and Sheila Musaji[14] have taken the translation to task for supposed Muslim supremacism and bigotry.

However, Dr Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya says the translation does not promote hostility towards other religions, with the references to Jews and Christians intended to distinguish between the beliefs of Muslims and the other two communities.[15]

Comparisons with other translations

The Sahih International translation of Al Fatihah Verse 1:7:

1:7 "Guide us to the straight path, the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favour, not of those who have evoked (Your) anger or of those who are astray."[16]

The Hilali–Khan translation of Al Fatihah Verse 1:7:

1:7 "The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians)"[17][2]

Khaleel Mohammed says, "What is particularly egregious about this interpolation is that it is followed by an extremely long footnote to justify its hate based on traditions from medieval texts".[5]

The Sahih International translation Al-Baqarah Verse 2:190:

2:190 "Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress. Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors."[18]

The Hilali–Khan translation, including its parenthetical comments and additions, of Al-Baqarah Verse 2:190:

2:190 "And fight in the Way of Allah those who fight you, but transgress not the limits. Truly, Allah likes not the transgressors. [This Verse is the first one that was revealed in connection with Jihad, but it was supplemented by another (V. 9:36)]."[19][2]

Sheila Musaji says, "the HK translation seriously distorts the concept of jihad."[14]

The Sahih International translation Al-Ma'idah Verse 5:21:

5:21 "O my people, enter the Holy Land which Allah has assigned to you and do not turn back [from fighting in Allah 's cause] and [thus] become losers."[20]

The Hilali–Khan translation of Al-Ma'idah Verse 5:21:

5:21 "O my people! Enter the holy land (Palestine) which Allah has assigned to you, and turn not back (in flight) for then you will be returned as losers"[21][2]

Khaleel Mohammed says, "This Saudi version twists the verse with modern politics, writing, "O my people! Enter the holy land (Palestine)."[5]

See also

References
  1. Hilali-Khan (2020). "Interpretation of the meanings of the Noble Quran". King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  2. Hilali-Khan (20 April 2015). "The Noble Quran - English translations meanings and commentary". King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  3. Hilali-Khan (17 November 2005). "Complete interpretation of the meaning of The Noble Quran". Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  4. Noble Qur'an here refers to this translation, not the Quran itself - commonly called 'Noble' by Muslims
  5. Mohammed, Khaleel (2005). "Assessing English Translations of the Qur'an". Middle East Quarterly.
  6. Mahavera, Sheridan. "Quranic translation to blame for extremism - The Malaysian Insider". www.themalaysianinsider.com. Archived from the original on 2016-02-16. Retrieved 2016-01-17. I believe that propaganda such as the Hilali-Khan translation and other materials coming out of Saudi Arabia are one of the major root causes that feed extremist ideas among Muslims, violence against Christians and other minorities
  7. "Saudi accused of 'Judaising' the Quran". Middle East Monitor. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  8. Mark Durie (29 January 2018). "Inquiry for the Review of the National Security Legislation Amendment - Submission 22". Parliament House, Canberra. Retrieved 21 May 2020. It allows an unacceptable level of incitement to violence which inevitably prepares the ground for acts of terror
  9. Juergensmeyer, Mark; Kitts, Margo; Jerryson, Michael (2013-01-01). The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Violence. OUP USA. p. 483. ISBN 9780199759996. In the 1980's two Salafi scholars based in the Islamic University of Medina and working under the supervision of Bin Baz, Taqi al-Din al-Hilali and Muhsin Khan institutionalized an interpretation of Islam... through their work Translations of the meanings of the Noble Qur'an in the English Language (1985). In it they used sustained interpolations to insert the interpretation of the Bin Baz school directly into the English rendition of the Qur'an. It was... used to inculcate Muslims and potential Muslims with militant interpretations of Islam artfully disguised, through parenthesis, as teachings of the Qur'an pure and simple.
  10. "For Conservative Muslims, Goal of Isolation a Challenge". The Washington Post. 2006-09-05. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-02-11. And it wasn't just liberals. I couldn't find an American Muslim who had anything good to say about that edition. I would call it a Wahhabi Koran.
  11. Jassem, Zaidan Ali. "The Noble Quran: A Critical Evaluation of Al-Hilali and Khan's Translation". www.academia.edu. International Journal of English and Education. p. 269. ISSN 2278-4012. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
  12. Crane, Robert D (2012). "QUR'AN: Playing into the Hands of the Extremists? (Khan Qur'an)". Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc. Retrieved 22 May 2020. This constructive phase of Islamic culture has been essentially dead for six hundred years. The task of re-construction is so enormous that the Muslims need whatever help they can get
  13. Khaled Abou El Fadl (2011). ""Corrupting God's Book" from The Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books". Scholar of the House. Retrieved 22 May 2020. The reader is left with the impression that the idiosyncratic understandings of the authors of the translation are supported by the traditions of Bukhari and the Qur'anic commentaries of al-Tabari, al-Qurtubi, and Ibn Kathir. But Bukhari's reports are grossly corrupted, and the commentaries of al-Tabari, al-Qurtubi, and Ibn Kathir do not support the authors' understandings
  14. "The American Muslim (TAM)". theamericanmuslim.org. Retrieved 2016-02-11. This the Hilali-Khan translation, and given out so freely, is shocking in its distortions of the message of the Qur'an and amounts to a rewrite not a translation
  15. "Hilali-Khan translation does not promote hostility towards non-Muslims, says scholar". Malaysia News. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  16. "Quran 1:7". Islam Awakened. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  17. "The Noble Quran - Surah Al-Fatihah". King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran.
  18. "Quran 2:190". Islam Awakened. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  19. "The Noble Quran - Surah Al-Baqarah". King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran.
  20. "Quran 5:21". Islam Awakened. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  21. "The Noble Quran - Suran Al-Ma'idah". King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran.
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