بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Alhamdo lillahe Rabbil Aalameen Was-salaato was-salaamo ala Khaire Khalqihi ma Khaatimul Anbiya wal-Mursaleen, Sayyedil awirulcena wal-aakhireen, Shafeeyil Muznibeen Ramalun III aalameen Muhammadin ma aalehit Tayyibeenat-Taahireen al Ma’soomeen.

All Praise is God’s the Lord of the worlds and peace and blessings be on the Best of His creation, the Last of His prophets and apostles, the Chief of the foremost and the later ones, the Redeemer of the sinners, the Mercy unto the Worlds Muhammad, and his Progeny, the Clean, the Pure and the Infallible ones.

The Background of This Endeavour

Everyone To His Post - The Order Of Providence

Thanks to the All-Merciful Almighty Lord, I am today able to present to the lovers of the Truth in general and my brethren in faith in particular, the fruit of my humble labour of ten long years, a pioneer service of the kind, a translation of the Final Word of the Lord, the Holy Qur’an, in the simple English language, with brief notes of commentary as per the version of the Last Apostle of the Lord through whom it was conveyed to mankind and as explained further by the holy ones, the Ahl Al-Bayt with whom it has been secured and who have been appointed and commissioned by the Lord as the authentic exponents of the external as well as the internal meanings of it.

It Is Only His Will That Is Done

It is the Omnipotent Lord, when He wills to guide mankind, sends down the angels from the ‘Arsh’, the Throne of His Authority, and to sustain His creation on the earth, He raises the water duly filtered up into the sky and sends it down re-distributing it to the various parts of the earth, at His independent will and according to His own design. Everything in the universe, exists and acts implementing the plan of the Omnipotent Providence, and the plan is mysterious and none in the world knows what is there in store for him. The secrecy of the divine design, makes man exert to the utmost limits of his ability with the maximum use of the native endowments in him, working out, good and evil, both at his individual discretion. Had man been informed of his future, the earth would never have been as it is adorned today with the marvels of the human effort on it.

The Creator Lord Himself Guides His Creation

Man left to himself would have been one among the beasts, not different from the life in the wilderness, save in his physical form and some instinctive habits. The All-Merciful Lord created everything and Himself guided it:

رَبُّنَا الَّذِي أَعْطَىٰ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَىٰ

“Our Lord is He Who gave everything its creation and then He Himself guided it” (20:50).

Every atom in the universe, is given its respective properties necessary for the part it has to play and is driven to its respective assignment in its, practical life, and man distinguished with the special endowment of ‘Conscience’ and armed with the tool of discretion, is charged with the responsibility of the correct use of the exclusive gifts in his nature, to work out good or evil for his own future, both for this life and for the hereafter. Thus, the divine plan, is implemented by the automatic drive of each part and particle of the universe, to its respective post.

With the life as it started with me, I could never imagine at any time here before that the All-Merciful Almighty Lord will, one day help my insignificant and humble self, to take up this great venture in spite of all my personal limitations and the want of the equipment necessary to execute it. My life, to me in particular, is a proof positive that every atom has been created with an assignment and is trained for its respective allotment and is automatically driven to its post. The plan of the Lord is never unfolded to anyone beforehand, save to those whom He sends into the world duly conditioned and fully informed by Himself.

I was drifted like a bit of straw in the current of a flowing stream, to its predestined destination. Time and space are problems for the creatures and not for the Omnipotent Creator. Time and space are His creation and manipulated at His independent will.

How Providence Paves The Way

A few words given here in this regard are not to be misunderstood for the vanity of the display of any peculiar distinction, for there is none. It is purely to bring home to the readers a living instance of the providential implementation of the divine plan and how man is drifted to his assignment and how matters get automatically manipulated though they seem only to be circumstantial.

As already said, my life, to me is a mystery with regard to the drifting of my ancestors from Hejaz to Iran, from Iran to India and in India to Madras.

My paternal ancestors descending from the fourth Holy Imam Ali Ibn al- Husayn Zayn Al-’Abidin (Sayyid Sajjad) called themselves the Sajjadies who had settled in Mazandaran (Iran) moved to India during the Moghal Rule and settled at Bijapur. Mr. Mir Abdul Ali Sajjadi distinguished himself as one of the commanders of the Moghal army and earned the distinction with the title ‘Vafakhari for his meritorious loyalty to the crown. The members of the progeny of this illustrious head of the family, distinguished themselves with the suffix to their names as ‘‘Sajjadi Vafakhani.’

The Vafakhanies were granted states in Dodbalapur, Tumkur and this family flourished and spread to Alipur and the other parts in the Mysore State. A branch of this family was granted estates in Sillur near Vellore (North Arcot Dist.) and the habitation was named by them ‘Angoor Bagh’ From Sillur, a branch of it got the grant of another estate which they named Madeena- pet (which later on got known as Mudinampet) near Virinchipuram about twelve miles from Vellor, (N.A. Dist. Madras Province) and my grandfather S. V. Mir Raza Ali was one of those who settled here. He died in Vellore and the maternal uncle of my father, S.V. Mir Taqi Ali became the hereditary Patel or the Munsif of the area. My paternal uncles S. V. Mir Zulfiqar Ali and S. V. Mir Abbas Ali managed the estate in the village and my father joined the Army services in the 73^rd Carnatic Regiment under the British Rule. This lineage of the Sajjadies from Mazandaran was joined to the other Sayyids in Madras from Kirman, through my mother who belonged to the line of the Tenth Holy Imam Ali an-Naqi. Thus, my maternal ancestors were Naqavies who had migrated to India from Kirman (Iran) and settled down in Madras Via Nawalpak (N.A. Dist.) Madras (Province).

After his return from the Burma War, my father received his share of the estate from my uncles and came down to Madras City with the determination to educate me and my younger brother Mr. S. V. Mir Haider Ali and Mr. S. V. Mir Raza Ali. Thus, my ancestors drifted from Hejaz to Iran and then to India and ultimately my parents came and permanently settled down in Madras City and my education was started.

Conditioning Of The Labour

I was first taught the recital of the Holy Qur’an and in the 9^th year of my age, I completed the recital under the saintly personage of my maternal uncle Janab Mir Ja’far Husayn Sahib who was popularly called ‘Peer’ and who had devoted his life to the recital of the Holy Book. Then I was admitted to the Harris High School, Madras, for my English Education. This institution was run by the Christian Mission of the Church of England, where the study of the Bible was compulsory. Since my getting into this institution, till I left it after the matriculation course, I monopolised the Bible Prize and the Bible Scholarship, every year. I had a special aptitude for the study of religion and very often had discussions with Rev. Canon Goldsmith, the Manager (or the Principal) of the institution, and Mr. Hanuman Singh the Bible Teacher. By the time I completed my course in the School, I had a thorough knowledge of the Bible, having learnt by heart, most of its passages.

Soon after completing my school course, I joined clerical service in the Government Mahammadan College, Madras. Very soon I obtained the Oriental Title of Munshi Fazil, the degree of B.O.L. (Bachelor of Oriental Learning) and later qualified myself with M.A., in Arabic and Persian. I was awarded the Asst. Lecturership in the same College and later obtained the B.T., degree in Teaching. I got interested in the deeper study of Psychology and with a view to carry out research in it, I took up the Madras University Diploma Course in German and then taking a year’s leave, joined the Research Course of M.Ed. degree (Master of Education) with Psychology as my special subject and carried out research, under Dr. G. D. Boaz, the Chief Professor, and the Head of the Department of Psychology (Madras University), and submitted my thesis which was accepted. At the instance of Dr. M. A. Huq, the then Principal of the College, I obtained the diplomas of Higher Proficiency in Arabic and Persian.

The Start Of The Practical Training

The inclination towards higher studies in religion and the zeal to serve the faith had already been actuated. After joining the service in the College, I simultaneously started a small monthly magazine called the ‘Peace Maker’ and also began publishing simple Islamic literature. This small journal had its own circulation in India and abroad. My friend Mr. G. A. Musa al-Raza B.A., was my active comrade in this venture, helping me in editing and publishing the magazine. The cost, of the publication as a whole, was met by my own earning without any financial help from anyone. Even in this earliest venture of mine, I will ever remember that the only donation in kind I received from anyone, was the Ellams Rotary Duplicator Machine from M/s. Ismail Elabib Co., Samuel Street, Bombay, and the late Mir Baqir Husayn Sahib Razavi (may his soul rest in peace) the Proprietor of the Standard Press, Madras, was the one who helped the service, by printing the matter at an especially concessional, rather at a nominal rate, even below the actual cost.

Once I reported to the Hujjat ul-Islam Ayatullah al-Hajj Allama Agha Mirza Mahdi Pooya Yazdi, then in Rampur, about the financial difficulty that was confronting me in bringing out the publication and I can never forget the reply I received from the sage which became the inspiration for my life, saying:

Man na gooyam to samanilar baash ya parwaana baash

Chun bafikre sookhtan oftaadayi mardaana baash.

I say not unto thee to be a Fire-Worm or a Firefly

Since thou thyself fell in love of getting burnt - behave thou manly.

This was the journal which answered Dr. Zewmer’s mischievous article published in his journal ‘The Muslim World,’ under the title ‘The Word of God or Word of Man’ in which he had presented the Bible as the Word of God and the Qur’an as the Word of Man. The silencing answer to Dr. Zewmer through this Magazine, earned a special popularity and attraction from the Christian world. The Magazine had a considerable demand from Ceylon and some important libraries in America and many scholars started contributing their articles on religious philosophy. When the long-standing Christian missionary publication ‘The Catholic Register’ from San Thone, Madras, found this Islamic publication getting stronger every day and attracting the Christian public more and more, its editor complained to the then (British) Government of Madras, saying that myself being a government official should not be allowed to indulge in the publication of any matter from the press, and consequently, I had to helplessly stop the publication. The story of this small publication guiding some educated Christians to Islam, is long and has its own details (I was glad to see a few old copies of the ‘Peace-Maker’ in the personal library of Hajj Dawood Nasser, at his residence, in Clayton Road, Karachi).

An instance of the success of this small Magazine could be found in the small booklet ‘Truth Revealed’ brought out by me in reply to the mischievous pamphlet published by the Christian Information Centre, Vepery, Madras, in which a false story’ against a Muslim family, had been brought out to attract the Muslims to the Christian creed.

Since the cessation of the publication of the ‘Peace-Maker’, I have come across not a few but an enormous number of anti-Islamic publications which vomit venom against Islam and its Holy Founder and spread all sorts of lies and slander to poison the mind of mankind against the faith and its Holy Leaders. But, for want of a publication or any other means at my own disposal, and my inability to give out the truth and remove the doubts created by the misrepresentation, the misinterpretations and the distortions of the facts, I had to remain quiet bearing the mental torture against the miserable situation.

Then came the demand for the information about the World’s Greatest Tragedy of Karbala, particularly from the new enlistments to Islam. I could not do more than bringing out a booklet ‘The King of Martyrs’, in some thousands and republished it every year, and distributed it freely, to everyone, particularly to my non-Muslim brethren. The publication has gradually developed into a full book-form and is under print.

The Husayny Trust, Madras, publishes every year, brief notes on the Tragedy and distributes it freely on the Husayn Day which they commemorate every year.

I cannot enumerate here the number of the most damaging publications against Islam I came across, against which I could do nothing.

At last, after a serious pondering over the genetic factors of the problem, I came to the conclusion that the cause of all these misunderstandings against the faith, is the lack of the proper literature in English and particularly about the Holy Qur’an. A translation of the Holy Qur’an with the necessary notes of correct explanation of its verses, will cover the whole field of the hostile camp and will not leave any room for any hostile critics to take shelter under any misgiving about the basic doctrines of the original Qur’anic faith. If this is done, it will not only be the source of the correct knowledge of the Holy Qur’an for our non-Muslim brethren who might sincerely seek the truth but also serve our own ranks which know the English language better than their own mother tongue and thus we could fortify our own personnel to get themselves properly informed of their own faith and defend it duly armed with the truth at their disposal, as and when necessary, and also be a source of guidance to their own family and friends. But this is not an easy job for one and all, particularly the one like my humble self. It is the work of sustained interest of scholars of very high order with the knowledge of the Holy Qur’an as well as of the English language. But somehow the work had to be taken up and done as best as one could do it, depending upon God Whose promise of help to every sincere effort is always there and never fails. It must be done, and someone should start it, for further progress or improvement by better hands later.

The Providential Means To The Service

Madras, since ages, had been the home of very great Shi’a scholars and divines. As for my knowledge of these illustrious men of God, I can confidently give the names of a few great ones who were the guardians of the school of the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt in South India. The greatest name among the scholars which Madras produced, as far as my knowledge goes, is that of Hujjat ul-Islam Maulvi Ghulam Nibiul Ahmad Khan Sahib who was followed by the Shi’as in South India, as the Mujtahid of his age and whose work, the ‘Paya al-Deen’, (i.e., The Foundation of the Religion) in Urdu, until late, was the religious guide in the daily use of the people. He was succeeded by his son Hujjat ul-Islam Maulvi Amjad Ali Khan Sahib, who was also a great scholar and a spiritual magnet and was acknowledged as a Sage and revered by the scholars of the various schools and the leading Christian authorities in the city regarded him as the greatest defender of the Islamic Faith. He was the one who saved many a “Muslim from falling into the trap of the powerful Christian missionary forces which were then, as they are now, very active in the City.

I proudly say that it was under this great celebrated Scholar Sage that I started the study of the Arabic language. This great Scholar Sage has been succeeded by his son Hujjat ul-Islam Al-Hajj Maulvi Ghulam Muhammad Mahdi Khan Sahib, the present Chief Shi’a Qazi of the Government of Madras, whose profuse knowledge, and pious personality is known even outside India. When he visited the great Centre of learning at Qum, he was specially honoured by Ayatullah al-Ozma Akha al-Broojardi, and at Lebanon the great Shi’a divine Ayatullah Akha Sayyid Sharfuddin Jabal’aamoli, conferred on him the honour of being his Deputy or Naib. He is now the backbone of the Shi’a faith in South India, and a unique personality with the knowledge of the English language and modern sciences. His approach to religious problems is highly scientific and rational with arguments ever convincing for which he is revered by scholars of all schools of thought, in South India.

Besides, there was Hujjat ul-Islam Shamsul Ulema Sayyid Hasan Raza Sahib, another senior scholar who was known not only for the high standard of his scholarship but also for his ideal piety. This was also a saintly personality. He was another man of God with which Madras was blessed. This great godly soul was the source of spreading the knowledge of the Ja’fari Fiqha among the Shi’a public of Madras. His simplicity and strict piety are even today remembered with highest regard and reverence to his name. I had the good fortune of sitting at his feet for about three years for Arabic syntax and the study of the Ja’fari theology.

Madras had the good fortune to receive a very great scholar from Iran (Shutar) Shamsul Mutakallimeen Agha Sayyid Hidayatullah Shustari al-Jazaa’iri, a nephew of Agha Sayyid Ali Shustari of Hyderabad (Deccan). He accepted the Professorship of Persian Literature in the Government Muhammadan College, Madras, and was an acknowledged scholar of the Arabic, and the Persian languages as well as of the Shi’a Ithna ‘Ashari faith. When the Shamsul Ulema fell seriously ill, I sat at the feet of this great scholar to have whatever my limited capacity could receive from this great store. The whole of the educated public of Madras acknowledged the versatility of the knowledge of this celebrated scholar.

Besides these there is Al-Hajj Maulvi Ghulam Abbas Ali Sahib ‘Abbas’ - a highly revered scholar and a seasoned educationist and the pride of Urdu scholars and poets in the South. His work the ‘Life of Husayn the Saviour’, is one of the pioneers works in the field of Shi’a literature in English. Though advanced in age yet by God’s grace he is ever busy in service to the faith and the faithful.

Besides these, there were the other scholars who are not very much known to the world outside Madras. One of these unknown learned men, was Tahsildar Hajj Mir Abbas Ali Sahib (of Triplicane) who has left a very good work in Urdu, in two volumes - Israare al-Haq’ which richly deserves a reprint.

In about 1925, arrived the greatest Scholar, and one of the greatest divines of the age Hujjat ul-Islam Ayatullah Al-Hajj Allama Agha Mirza Mahdi Pooya Yazdi from Najaf al-Ashraf, after his Ha). This great Scholar Sage is a wonderful Treasury of the Qur’anic Knowledge particularly of the School of the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt with a thorough study of the comparative philosophy of the religions of the world. He was born in 1307 A.H. at Yazd (Iran) son of Hujjat ul-Islam Agha Mirza Hasan who was the great sage and scholar at Yazd, one of whose students was the great celebrated Scholar and Divine Sayyid Kazim Tabatabaa’ya. The grandfather of this great divine was Hujjat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimeen Agha Mirza Ja’far Yezdi, a student of the celebrated Shi’a Divine Shaikh Murtaza Ansari (D. 1281 A.H.) who was one of the greatest Shi’a authorities on the Ja’fari Fiqh. Agha Sayyid Hidayatullah Shustari Al-Jazaa’iri who was known for his high Scholarship, once told me am at a loss to know how many books did this man of God (Agha Pooya) study that he quotes so many authorities verbatim in support of his arguments on anything in Islam and on the various schools of religious philosophy. He quotes so many authorities that a man is only amazed!’

By God’s grace I had the good fortune and the unique opportunity of visiting many Islamic centres of learning in India and in the Muslim countries abroad and have met many great intellectual magnets and divines. I sincerely affirm that I have yet to come across a second one like this great Scholar Sage with the divine gift of knowledge and insight. The sublime height of his knowledge of the Holy Qur’an and his deep study of the philosophic aspects of each and every verse of the Final Word of God, has been unanimously acknowledged by the Scholars of all Schools, as inapproachable. He is one of the greatest and the most fearless exponents of the Islamic truth I have come across in my life. He knows no fear or favour or any regard for any worldly power or possession, in exposing the truth. His door is ever open for any seeker of the Qur’anic knowledge. He is equally disposed towards every visitor be he rich or poor. People having finished their studies at the great centres of learning at Qum and Najaf, come to him to receive whatever they could have, from this waveless deep ocean. He abhors show and publicity, and his humility, and modesty is known to all those who have come in contact with him. His knowledge of the various religions and the different schools of philosophy, ancient as well as modern, is only amazing and his approach to religious problems, are ever convincing to his audience.

In short, I sincerely declare that this godly soul, is such a wonderful and inimitable personality that it has roused the wonder in my mind, that if this is what a sincere follower of the Ahl Al-Bayt is blessed with, by God, what were the holy Imams and what a treasury of knowledge was the one about whom the Apostle of God who uttered nothing but the revelation of the Lord said “I am the City of Knowledge and Ali is its Gate” 1 and what was the City of Knowledge itself. The sublimity of his Qur’anic knowledge can be easily gauged by the quality of the notes he has given about the Qur’anic topics which are accommodated in this work with the indication of A.P. at the end of each note, which indicates his name (i.e., Agha Pooya). For me, his advent in Madras, was providential for, all the time he was there, I had the good fortune to sit at his feet and gathered only a few shells from the shore of the unfathomable ocean of his knowledge.

The notes by this Sage, do not comprise of all that he could give about the verses. They are the shortest possible hints that could be had for the present edition of this work which had to be unavoidably hurried up for want of time. God alone knows how, at every step I had to most reluctantly stop the flow of the explanations from this Sage and cut short the notes to suit the exigency of the time at my disposal.

What Forced Me To Take Up This Venture - The Need Became Imperative

In 1954 I was invited by the great scholar Dr. T. M. P. Mahadevan, the Chief Professor of Philosophy of the Madras University and the General Secretary (For India) of the World Organisation, the Society for the Study of the Great Religions, to represent Islam in the World Religious Conference or the Seminar which was to be held in Mysore for a week, under the presidentship of the world renowned Philosopher Dr. Radha Krishnan, then the Vice-President and now the President of the Indian Union. A whole day was allotted to each of the leading world religions, viz. Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam and all the other Schools were given a few hours to read their prepared papers on the respective scriptural standpoints. The speakers on Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam had to give two talks and also to offer a discourse for the exchange of views in a question hour. I quite remember the good-hearted counsel of the late Dr. Md. Abdul Huq, M.A., D. Phil., (Oxon.), at whose advice I accepted the invitation and attended the conference at Bangalore.

The conference was with a very elaborate arrangement under the Royal patronage of His Highness the Maharajah Sahib of Mysore. It was an assembly of the pick of the scholars of the various religions of the world. Here I came across some of the leading scholars of the various schools of thought and having stayed with them in the special camp for about a week, I was further pained at heart, to find how even the scholars of the non-Muslim world, miserably labour under gross misunderstandings against Islam and lack the correct knowledge of the true Qur’anic faith. My attending the conference seemed to me to be providential, as to encourage me for the great venture about which I had not yet decided.

At the end my talks on the Holy Qur’an on the Day for Islam, the gist of which has been published, I was surprised by the sincere demand from some very good scholars in the audience, for copies of the Holy Book. About 114 copies of the ‘Glorious Qur’an,’ (the translation by Mr. M. Pickthall), were purchased that very day, by those Scholars. My feelings of regret for not having a version of our own, in the English language, i.e., the correct translation with the commentary on it, according to the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt, knew no bounds. In short, I decided to depend upon God’s help, and to take up the venture. My attending the conference, was practically to inform me of the need of this work. I returned to Madras with the decision to start the work. I was fully conscious of my limitations and the handicaps in my way. However, I had determined to do the best possible for me and leave the rest to God’s will.

As per my own belief, I thought that I must proceed to the Holy City of Najaf and visiting the Holy Shrine of the Gate of the City of Knowledge, Amir Al-Mu’minin Ali Ibn Abi Talib, take his permission and invoke the help of God through his blessings. I proceeded to Najaf and today I gladly disclose, that it was ‘Shabe Juma’’, a Thursday night in Najaf al-Ashraf when after my supplication to God in the holy Shrine, I returned to my room, and that very night I dreamt, which I have justification to believe that it was nothing but the permission from the Great Holy Soul, to go ahead with the determined venture with the assurance of his godly help in the task.

With the clear sign of the promise of the divine help in the task, I returned to Bombay enroute to Madras, where I stayed with Hajj Rajab Ali P. Ebrahim who, in my very first meeting with him, threw a surprise on me by asking me, if I would take up the translation of the Holy Qur’an with the commentary according to the version of the Ahl Al-Bayt and he would render every help which he could possibly do, to execute the work. I was struck with surprise for the coincidence of the enquiry from the godly man, about a task which I was myself returning home with the determination to undertake. The one condition from Hajj Rajab Ali was that the first edition of the work should be dedicated to the late Hajj Dawood Ismail Habib. I also knew the late Hajj Dawood Habib as a charitable noble member of the Habib family which is known for its services to religion and humanity. I readily accepted the offer and started the work.

I took the offer of the gentleman as providential and Mr. Rajab Ali, as per his promise provided me for all these years with the cost of a full-time steno-typist to assist me in preparing the copy of my work.

The venture demanded a whole-time attention as the first concern of my life. Hence, I had to retire before time from the service in the Government Arts College, Madras.

Having come to know of my venture, some of my good friends appreciated it and acknowledged its need but some of them also discouraged me regarding the high-class English in which they would like the work to be. But I could confidently assure the matter to be in an understandable English, though it might be void of the high standard and would lack the beauties and the eloquence of it, which I did not deem essential for my purpose. I was going to present the Qur’anic matter in an understandable English and not a thesis on the English language and literature. I sincerely declare that it would not be a surprise to me if my language is found wanting in the eloquence and the beauties of it. With this declared confession from me, I am sure that the great scholars of the English language will graciously bestow their attention not on the linguistic standard of this humble work, but the matter accommodated in it. I felt the need of it as imperative and had to helplessly come forward with what little I could do to serve the purpose as best as I could, paving the way for further improvement on it by better heads and abler hands in the future.

I had finished the 1^st Chapter of the Holy Book, when to my good fortune, my master and guide in the Islamic knowledge, Hujjat ul-Islam Ayatullah Agha Hajj Mirza Mahdi Pooya Yazdi visited Bangalore and this great godly scholar saw my work and commanded me to go ahead with it and promised to go through my work before it goes to the Press. It took nine long years for me to complete the work. The task before me was not of the labour but of providing myself with the various basic authorities on the subject. With a strenuous effort I could collect most of the works (given in the list of my sources) and for the rest I had to visit the various libraries in Madras and in Hyderabad.

After finishing the work, I went to Bombay to consult Hajj Rajab Ali P. Ebrahim about the publication of the work, who promised to do the best possible in the matter. I cannot forget how spontaneously his elder brother Ramzanali P. Ebrahim came forward with a very great encouragement on his own behalf which gave the momentum to the efforts to get the work- published, for the cost of the publication was estimated to be very high.

Before sending the matter to the press I wanted to get it revised by my Master and Guide Hujjat ul-Islam Ayatullah Allama Hajj Mirza Mahdi Pooya Yazdi, for I confidently assert that besides him there is none in the Shi’a world today who can scrutinise any work on the Holy Qur’an as he does it.

I went over to Karachi where he now stays and here, I had to stay for about 24 months to get my translation perused by him. I am glad to say that the Great Holy Soul, gave all the time fie could spare, every day with full attention, and sometimes till late in the nights, I was reading out the translation and he was giving his own notes on the Topics of special importance. In 1963 this great sage suddenly became seriously ill and was admitted into the Naval Hospital, Karachi, and the revision of my work had to be suspended for some time, and this interval I availed of, to visit the great centres of Islamic learning at Mashhad and Qum (Iran) and Najaf Al-’Ashraf (Iraq).

I am indebted to Dr. Hajj Muhammad Taqi Muqtadari of the Iranian Imperial Embassy, Karachi, who wrote to the leading scholars in Iraq introducing me to them and also recommended to the Authorities of the great Astana Library in Mash’had, to give me all facilities to have free access to the authorities concerning the Qur’anic knowledge.

At Mash’had I stayed for a month, and I have no words to express my gratitude to Ayatullah Agha Hajj Sayyid Hadi Milani who gave great encouragement in my venture and enriched me with his directions and honoured me with the bestowal of his ‘Niabat’ (Representative or Deputy’) which I hardly deserve. The photo copy of his gracious award is hereunder displayed. This I accepted as an honour from the great Divine.

From Mash’had I proceeded to Teheran and was benefited a great deal by my contact with some of the great scholars of the Teheran University.

I visited the great centres of Islamic learning at Qum and during my short stay there, of a few days, I could only have the benefit of some discourse about Qur’an, with the authorities in the great centre of Islamic learning.

From Qum I proceeded to the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf. At Najaf I had the honour and privilege of meeting the great Mujtahids: (The Shi’a Divines).

1. Ayatullah Hajj Sayyid Mohsin al-Al-Hakim.

2. Ayatullah Agha Hajj Sayyid Mahmud Shahroodi.

3. Ayatullah Hajj Sayyid Abul-Qasim Al-Moosavi Khoei.

In my meeting with the above Divines, Ayatullah Hajj Sayyid Mohsin Al-Hakim appreciated the venture to the extent of his readiness of getting it published at his own cost in Iraq itself, a proposition not practical for me.

Ayatullah Hajj Sayyid Abdul Qasim Al-Moosavi Al-Khoei welcomed the venture and as a token of his appreciation and encouragement presented me with a complete set of the valuable work ‘Tafsir al-Burhan’ with his own autograph and expressed his readiness to lend any help I may need in the venture.

I am indebted to Ayatullah Agha Hajj Sayyid Mahmood Shahroodi for the ideal hospitality and the great encouragement assuring all the help I would need in bringing out the work. In addition to it, like Ayatullah Agha Hajj Sayyid Hadi Milani, he honoured me with a credential of his ‘Niabat’ (Representative or Deputy). I accepted it as an honour from the great divine.

I hereby record my sincerest indebtedness and gratitude for the hospitality and the help I received from the members of the Habib family in Karachi, of them particularly from Hajj Ahmad- Habib Ismail, Hajj Hamid Dawood Habib and Hajj Rashid Dawood Habib and the members of the Chandu family particularly Mr. Abbas Chandu and his brothers. To tell the truth, but for the hospitality and the helpful treatment I received from these good-hearted ones, I would not have had the facility to complete my work.

I cannot spare mentioning the names of the two of the senior veterans Hajj Hasan Alt P. Ebrahim and Hajj Dawood Hajj Naser Mawji for their sincere blessings to the endeavour.

I sincerely express and record my heartfelt obligation and thanks to one and all my other brethren in India and abroad for their assistance, encouragement and kindness rendered to me in this venture of mine. I wish, it were possible for me to name them all but the work, with all the possible restraint, has already become too voluminous and I can only tell them all, ‘Ajrokom ‘ala Allah’, Your reward lies with your Lord.

I am indebted to the authorities of The Sterling Printing and Publishing Company Ltd., Karachi, for the facilities they gave me and for the keen interest they evinced in bringing out this work. I thankfully acknowledge the fact, and the Press authorities are unanimously with me, that without the untiring efforts, the sustained interest, and the personal sacrifices of one of the partners of the Press Mr. Khaleel Shirazi, the printing could not have been so successfully completed. This young partner of the Press did not spare any pain in making this undertaking by the Press, a grand success.

I must inform the readers, that this edition of my work, was brought out under unavoidable difficulties and insurmountable handicaps. Hence the mistakes which might have slipped my own notice and that of the Press, may kindly be bypassed and I may kindly be informed of them if they find any, for my guidance InshaAllah Ta’ala for the revised edition.

The Niabat Nameh

Justification For This Endeavour - The Age Of Rapid Changes

We are in an age of endeavour for the conquest of space and time. The faster means of communications have set in motion such rapid conveyances for men and material which were far beyond the imagination of the former generations of the human race. The speed in the movement has brought forth revolutionary changes in ideology and the mode of living and has created the economic interdependence of nations. No nation in the world, can now remain aloof from the other and yet progress or advance in any aspect of its economic or social life. Consequently, problems relating to human life on earth, and its progress, have also ceased to be local. Every problem, be it of any single nation, or of the human race as a whole, has its causes and effects interconnected, and thus become the concern of international import of universal interest.

The rapid motion of the conveyance of men and material did not affect revolution only in the economic structure of the world, but it carried with it a more vital change and exchange of thoughts and religious ideology. The two forces, the economic and cultural, always go hand in hand. The exchange of goods in trade is often mutual, as no nation can always be only a buyer or only a seller. Each nation has to play both the roles simultaneously, and must be giving to, and taking from, each other. But in the cultural field, this rule need not necessarily be always the same. The conveyance of men and matter is visible, whereas the change and the exchange of views and the revolution in the ideology, is latent and visible only in its effects. The law active in this field, is not of ‘Give and Take.’ The stronger and the more powerful one in the political and the economic position, exerts a stronger and more fascinating influence on the weaker and the poorer groups, and effects a revolution in their intellectual and social spheres which is irresistible for the weaker in discretion and reasoning.

The West, with its economic superiority and its political position, has gained a sway over most of the Eastern countries. Particularly the general Muslim public, has been incessantly getting strongly influenced by the materialist thoughts and the irreligious life of the West. This influence on the intellect, has gradually progressed from being irreligious to anti- religious. The necessity’ to learn the English language, which emanated from what the knowledge of the language promises towards the welfare and progress of the people in their economic and political life, made the Muslims neglect and even forget the necessity’ and the importance of learning even their own mother tongue and the languages viz., Arabic and Persian in which are treasured the original and the basic knowledge of their faith.

Formerly the knowledge of the Holy Qur’an and the Islamic theology was acquired directly through Arabic and Persian, but now a Muslim, with the modern education he gets through the medium of English, can only read and understand things better than in his own mother tongue, if the matter is presented in English, and the works even on his Holy Book and his faith, have the appeal to him only when they are in the English language. Such people care more for the beauties of the language rather than the correctness of the matter accommodated therein. The Western translators of the Holy Qur’an and most of the producers of the literature on Islam in the English language, are the anti-Muslim elements which are busy distorting the facts about the faith to create disruption in the Islamic ideology.

These hostile minds have done the worst possible for them to blackmail the Holy Prophet and the religion Islam, through their purposeful mistranslations, misinterpretations, misrepresentation, and the distortion of facts. The distortions and the misinterpretations are so strongly plastered with such attractive paints of the linguistic excellence and the delusive logic that the blind lovers of the English language who are hardly or even totally unaware of the actual Qur’anic factors of their faith, get drifted in the falsehood tempered with the eloquence and such of our friends readily swallow the sugar-coated poisonous pills and get themselves duly conditioned to serve the purpose of the publications of the hostile camps.

Thus, our own men become the enchanted agents of the crafty enemies. But for this crafty move mostly on the part of the Christian writers against Islam and its Holy Founder, God alone knows how much of the human world by today, would have embraced the truth. Thus, the western writers are not only’ creating disruption in the Muslim ideology’ and ranks, but also obstructing the sincere seekers of the truth, from getting even a glimpse of the factual position of the inimitable Islamic excellence. When the antagonistic elements have successfully’ extended their active influence upon our own religious ideology and social traditions, we are also bound in our own duty to God, His Final Word, the Holy Qur’an, and the faith Islam, to present the truth to make it clear to every sincere seeker of it. We have to present the facts in their sublime purity’ to display the truth and dispel the doubt created by the anti-Islamic forces.

The Worth Of A Work

The worth or the value of a work depends upon the need or the demand for it and the need or the demand is judged by the extent to which the human family will be profited by it and the amount of the loss or the disadvantage the absence of it might be causing.

When there are several other similar works already in the field a repetition of it must have some acceptable reasons justifying the endeavour. Every work should, as a necessity, establish its originality and usefulness or its distinction with its special features distinguishing it from the other works of similar nature.

The Holy Qur’an has already been translated into the English language by several scholars of repute and some of them have also given sufficiently detailed notes of commentary on the contents of the Holy Book. A work of the same kind will be an unnecessary repetition for repetition’s sake unless it serves any new purpose. There are the well-known translations of the Text by George Sale, J. N. Rodwell, E. H. Palmer, M. Pickthall, Hafiz Ghulam Sarwar and A. K. Dawood and M. H. Shakir.

Firstly, mere translation of the Text without the correct background of the actual context of each revelation will not serve the purpose of a useful study and understanding the matter correctly. The latest of the translations of the Text is by Mr Shakir which, no doubt, contains some very brief useful notes on some selected verses. The notes are correct hints but too brief and very few, not sufficient to meet the demand for the Qur’anic knowledge in its fullness. If he had lived, perhaps, he would have met the demand.

Earlier to this, Mr. Badsha Husayn of Lucknow, had attempted at a detailed work on the Qur’an and has brought out in two volumes, his work on some chapters, but death did not spare him to complete the work. Besides the learned scholar had adopted the translation of Mr. Rodwell and not his own and as regards the notes of his explanations are based mostly on the sermons of some Maulvi (Scholar) without any approach to the modern problems and without any answers to the various criticisms from the anti-Islamic front. This fact Mr. B. H. has himself openly acknowledged in his introduction to whatever he could bring out.

Secondly, the translations by aforesaid Christian scholars viz., Rod well, G. Sale and Palmer etc., are obviously prejudicial. Any student of the comparative study of the Qur’an would certainly declare that these scholars either have betrayed their ignorance of the classical as well as the modern Arabic language, or had the knowledge, and purposefully abused it to serve their own selfish purpose of misrepresenting the sublime beauty of the contents of the Holy Book by misinterpreting its matter. The purpose behind the distortions, is quite obvious that the identical mission of all these prejudiced minds was to make the readers of their works, form a detestable opinion about the basic book of Islam, thus instead of helping them to understand it correctly, obstruct them from doing it.

To expose the factors in the other translations, particularly by the Christian scholars, which justify the endeavour for this work, needs a detailed review of each of the works which I have already prepared but could not give here for want of space and the shortness of the time, at my disposal at present. Instead of dealing with each one of the distorting works of the anti- Islamic minds, I give a few quotations from the introduction to Mr. Sale’s translation, by the celebrated Christian Scholar Sir. E. Dennison Ross, and the other learned ones, which will give the readers a view of the factual position of the Holy Qur’an in the opinion of the impartial minds and the unjust hostile attitude of the wilful distorters of the Holy Book.

The following remarks by the great Scholar, gives a very clear proof to all sensible readers of the works of the Christian authors on Islam, to what ingenuity, meanness, lies, and impostures they resort to, when dealing with subjects opposed to their own personal prejudicial views:

Sir E. Dennison Ross, says:

“It must, however, be borne in mind that the Koran plays a far greater role among the Muhammadans than does the Bible in Christianity, in that it provides not only the canon of their faith, but also the textbook of their ritual and the principles of their Civil Law.

“For many centuries the acquaintance which the majority of Europeans possessed of Muhammadanism was based almost entirely on distorted reports of fanatical Christians which led to the dissemination of a multitude of gross calumnies. What was good in Muhammadanism was entirely ignored, and what was not good, in the eyes of Europe, was exaggerated or misinterpreted.

“It must not, however, be forgotten that the central doctrine preached by Muhammad to his contemporaries in Arabia, who worshipped the star; to the Persians, who acknowledged Ormuz and Ahriman; the Indians who worshipped idols; and the Turks; who had no particular worship, was the unity of God and that the simplicity of his creed was probably a more potent factor in the spread of Islam than the sword of the Ghazis.

“It is difficult to decide to what extent Mr. Sale’s citations in the notes represent first-hand use of the Arabic commentators, but I fear that the result of a close inquiry only points to very little original research on his part.

“His refutations, which swell the work to a large volume, are of little (use) or none at all, being often unsatisfactory, and sometimes impertinent.

“I do not wish to imply that Sale did not know Arabic, but I do maintain that his work as it stands gives a misleading estimate of his original research, and that his tribute to Marracci falls far short of his actual indebtedness”2

The translation of the Holy Qur’an by Mr. Sale is held by its publishers to be the best and the most accurate which claim has been proved to be false by another great Christian Scholar viz., Mr. Palmer:

“From the large amount of exegetical matter which has been incorporated in his (Mr. Sale’s) text and from the style of language employed, which differs widely from nervous energy and the rugged simplicity of the original, his (Mr. Sale’s) work can scarcely be regarded as a fair representation of the Qur’an”

Mr. Sale with all his endeavour to distort the meaning of the Holy Qur’an, to help the Christian missionaries, in diverting the attention of the world from the Holy Book, had to, in the ultimate, helplessly confess about the Glory of the Holy Qur’an as an Inimitable and Permanent Miracle:

“The Koran is universally allowed to be written with utmost elegance and purity of language. It is confessedly the standard of the Arabic tongue, inimitable by any human pen and therefore insisted on as a permanent miracle”3

Every sincere seeker of Truth, would like to listen to what the great Western scholar Goethe says about the Holy Qur’an:

“However often we turn to Qur’an, it soon attracts, astounds and in the end enforces reverence. Thus, This Book will go on exercising through all ages its most potent influence”

The great scholar and the famous poetess leader of the people of India, Sarojini Naidu, in her lecture in Madras in 1918 declared:

“As I read the Qur’an, I find those Dynamic Principles of Life, not mystic but practical ethics for the daily conduct of life suited to the whole world”4

Dr. A. Bertherand declares to the intellectuals of the world:

“To seek knowledge is the duty of every Muslim man and woman. Seek knowledge even though it be in China. The Savants are the heirs of the Prophets. These profound words of the Great Reformer are indisputable contradiction to those who seek and exert themselves in putting the responsibility of the intellectual degradation of Muslims upon the spirit of the Qur’an. Let them read and meditate upon this great book and they will find it, at every passage, a constant attack upon idolatry and materialism; they will read that The Prophet incessantly called the attention and the meditation of his people to the splendid marvels, to the mysterious phenomenon of creation. The incredulous, sceptical, and unbelieving may convince themselves that the importance of This Book and its doctrine was not to throw back, eventually, the intellectual and moral faculties of a whole people. On the contrary, those who have followed its counsels, have been, as we have described in the course of this study, the creators of a civilisation which is abounding unto this day”

Just to create hatred against Islam in the minds of the peace-loving mankind, the fable of Islam having been spread by the sword was fabricated. What aggression could the lonely one, the Holy Prophet, commit and what a sword in the hand of the one single soul who was himself persecuted and whose followers were heartlessly tortured and mercilessly killed, could have done, anyone with mere common sense can easily judge. The truth about this vicious fabrication has been exposed by many great scholars of the West and the following is one of the impartial declarations of the Truth.

De Lacy O’Leary writes:

“History makes it clear, however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races, is one of the most fantastical absurd myths that historians have ever repeated”5

About the perfection of the Islamic law, citing the verdict of the Great British parliamentarian will suffice.

Edmund Burke writes:

“The Muhammadan law which is binding on all from the crowned head to the meanest subject, is a law interwoven with a system of the wisest, the most learned and the most enlightened jurisprudence that ever existed in the world”6

There are the detailed works by two Muslim scholars viz., Maulvi Muhammad Ali of the Ahmadia school and Allama Yousuf Ali, whose translations of the text are with a detailed commentary’.

Firstly, these two Muslim scholars have not been impartial and have consistently avoided not only’ any resort to the source of the Ahl Al-Bayt but also seem to hate even a reference to the holy ones even at the places where these godly souls are the direct concern of the revelations. There is also an obvious betrayal of the conscience in the distortion of the facts sparing no possible endeavour to misinterpret them. This fact will be proved if a student of Qur’an keeps Mr. Muhammad Ali’s work besides that of the great Commentary ‘Majma’ ul-Bayan’ of great Shi’a authority Shaikh al-Tabarsi and then find out what amount of borrowing has been done from the ‘Majma’ and yet not even at a single place, it has been acknowledged. Besides the basic Shi’a sources have been deliberately avoided. Mr. Yousuf Ali’s work is totally void of any reference to the Ahl Al-Bayt which attitude proves that the learned translator either has wilfully’ avoided any recourse to this most accredited, exclusive and the only authentic source of the Qur’anic knowledge or was totally ignorant of the holy ones and their position in Islam, although the Holy Prophet had openly declared that the Qur’an is with the Ahl Al-Bayt, and to avoid getting astray the Muslims should be attached to these two7

Besides the other factors, which to be fully enumerated, will need a lengthy statement which cannot be accommodated here at present, there are some peculiar interpretations of the verses suiting the bias of the Scholars of their own respective schools. These intentional or unintentional misgivings are helpful to form a wrong opinion about the Qur’anic factors as well as the Holy Ones concerned with the matter.

A glance of the sources of the data collected by these Scholars for their works, discloses the deliberate alienation of the authorities giving the view point of the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt.

The one conspicuous peculiarity of the Ahmadi commentator is practically the denial of the miracles by interpreting or ascribing the miraculous events presented by the Apostles of God, as non-spiritual events having no spiritual force behind them, as the usual happenings circumstanced by some natural phenomena. This denies the apostles of God the special spiritual powers which they were endowed with.

The trend of presentation of the Qur’anic facts, is not to recast the modern rebellious minds into Qur’anic moulds but to recast the Qur’anic knowledge to suit the trend of modern corrupt ideology.

Thus, I undertook this venture to present as best as I can, the translation of the Holy Qur’an as well as the interpretations of its matter according to the Ahl Al-Bayt with whom the Holy Prophet left it, saying that these Two will never be separated, and to be safe from getting astray, the Muslims have to hold fast to these Two. I have based all my statements on the basic authorities of the School of the Ahl Al-Bayt, having in view both the friendly as well as inimical works given in the list of my references.

The Genetic Factor Of The Misunderstandings

The question is, wherefrom does the anti-Islamic element gets the venom to vomit it against Islam and its Holy Founder? How could some of the non-Muslim scholars misunderstand while some others understand it better to the extent of appreciating it? It is this problem which is to be properly understood and duly attacked with the necessary solution for it.

The genetic cause behind all the misunderstandings, not only by our non-Muslim brethren but by a considerable number in our own ranks whose source of knowledge is only the literature in the English language which is the grossly adulterated stuff of the information about Islam and its Holy Founder, readily available to them in the market. The inquisitive minds however sincere they may be in seeking the Islamic truth, the matter available to them, turns them hostile or makes them doubtful of the bonafide of the claim of Islam being God’s revealed religion and its holy Founder being in fact the Apostle of God. Take for instance:

1. The fabricated story of the Holy Prophet’s getting frightened at the Messenger Angel’s appearing to him - his getting consoled by Lady Khadija - and being informed of the heavenly office of the apostleship having been conferred on him by Waraqa Ibn Nawfil.

2. The false stories of the disgraceful acts of sexual lust on the part of the Apostle of God.

3. Describing all the defensive resistance which Islam was forced to exercise, as wielding of the sword for territorial ambitions.

4. The fabricated story of the Holy Prophet, seating one of his wives on his shoulders, to show her the slave dance.

5. The denial of the miracles wrought by the apostles of God and the Holy Prophet.

6. The wishful and the malicious imagination of the Holy Virgin Mary having contact with Joseph in the Sanctuary, assigning a human father to the Holy Prophet Jesus, and thus denying his miraculous birth.

7. Creating doubts, by all sorts of wishful conjectures against the bodily Ascension (Mi’raj), of the Holy Prophet.

8. Aligning the sinful ones with those Purified by God Himself.

9. Misinterpreting the Qur’anic laws of heritage, relating to the apostles of God.

10. The coinage of false traditions in the name of the Holy Prophet.

11. Hiding the defects, drawbacks, and the natural deficiencies of some pet heroes and praising them against their historic misgivings and misconduct and presenting the wicked ones and even the tyrants as the leaders of the faith.

12. Lowering the actual position of the holy ones, in favour of those who can never reasonably be aligned with the godly souls.

13. Misinterpreting the verses of the Holy Qur’an to suit personal wishful conjectures.

14. Misinterpreting the actual significance of the most important historic event of Ghadir Khumm.

15. Denial of the appointment of the successor to him which the Holy Prophet, during his lifetime had done, thus bringing the blame on him to have left the world without doing it.

16. Presenting the illegal and the unwarranted acts of some political leaders after the departure of the Holy Prophet, as legal and warranted, as the heroic deeds for the faith.

And many such other factors.

The hatred that such publications create in the raw minds, is naturally transferred from the factors to the faith and its Founder. Thus, the elements responsible for the hatred and the hostility of the non-Muslim writers are the various wishful translations of the Qur’an and the unauthentic commentaries on it. Those who hold the correct guidance from the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt, about these matters, also cannot escape their own responsibility of presenting the truth to the world, when it is so imperatively needed and the absence of which is playing such intolerable havoc against Islam and misleading innumerable men and women in guest of the truth.

Over and above all the aforesaid handicaps in the way of people understanding the Qur’an correctly, there is also the mischievous Anti-Qur’anic propaganda against the genuineness of the Holy Qur’an, creating doubts against the completeness of the Holy Book and the correctness of the arrangement of the matter in it.

Whereas the truth sublime of Islam and the actual Qur’anic facts are quite different and, in some places, diametrically opposed to what is made available in the market by the purposefully established hostile agencies and the unnecessary and unwarranted misgivings by our ill- informed friends, the only source of correct information about the faith and its details, is the verdict of the Ahl Al-Bayt, the authorities divinely set up by the Lord through the Holy Prophet. The pity is that the thing which is the panacea of all the evils, and which is the demand of the time, has not been made available by us for the information and the guidance of the seekers of the truth and to counter the subversive move by the hostile forces.

Thus, instead of attempting at the impracticable and the impossible task of answering to every individual mischievous publication and individually to every mischief-monger who might be appearing on the scene every day in a different garb, the first and the foremost concern of the sincere advocates and the well-wishers of Islam and the faithful devotees of its Holy Founder, is to put a stop to the genetic source which is incessantly supplying venom against the faith, by bringing out an authentic version of the Holy Qur’an in the English language so that there remains no room for any misunderstanding of the Qur’anic factors by any uninformed friend or any misinformed foe. With such a reliable source of our own, duly established, we can call an emphatic halt to all antagonistic moves against the teachings of Islam or the Holy Prophet, by inviting the misguided ones to the correct and the authentic source placed at their disposal. Unless this is done, the trouble will be ever recurring and to do this is the responsibility of those who call themselves the devotees of the Ahl Al-Bayt, i.e., the Shi’as.

I deemed it as my first concern to clarify the actual position of the Holy Qur’an, which is the Greatest and the Ever-Current Miracle of the Holy Prophet Muhammad the Last Apostle of God, until the Day of the Final Judgment. In view of the importance of the subject and its direct concern with the faith, I have taken detailed notes from Hujjat ul-Islam Ayatullah Al-Hajj Allama Agha Mirza Mahdi Pooya Yazdi, one of the well-known greatest authorities on the Qur’anic knowledge and Islam. The notes were prepared with great strain and special care using the authentic sources, with the maximum possible brevity.

There is the clearest historic evidence to the facts:

1. The Qur’an as a whole as a complete Book, was already revealed to the Holy Prophet on the Night of ‘Qadr’.8

2. In the course of its ‘Tanzeel’ or the gradual revelation, as and when the verses were revealed, the Holy Prophet then and there, used to get the verses duly placed in the respective places in the order he was divinely directed to do.

3. The Holy Qur’an was recorded in writing at least by the following:

   1. Amir Al-Mu’minin Ali Ibn Abi Talib, whose collection contained not only the text but also the notes, ordinary as well as the exclusive or the special ones, from the Holy Prophet.

   2. Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood.

   3. Ma’aaz Ibn Jabal.

   4. Obai Ibn Ka’b.

4. The Holy Prophet before his departure from the world, issued the well-known historic announcement which is universally acknowledged by the Muslim World as a whole that he was leaving behind, among the people and not with any particular person, for the words are clear ‘Feekom’, i.e., ‘among you,’ the ‘Saqalain’ or (Thaqalain), i.e., the Two Weighty or the Important things the ‘Kitab Allah’ the Book of God, which means that by that time, the Qur’an was duly collected and had been given the form to be called a complete Book.

5. If there was no collection of the Qur’anic verses in the form of a complete Book, what was the Book that ‘Umar referred to when he in reply to the demand from the Holy Prophet for pen and paper, said ‘Hasbona Kitab Allah’, i.e., Sufficient is for us the Book of God.

With all this unchallengeable evidence of History, if yet any fuss is made about its collection by anyone else or about its ‘Tahrif’ it will be betraying either the determination not to know the truth or the inability to understand the matter in its true perspective. Readers may go through the notes by (AP) on ‘Tahrif’ for it is then that they will find the truth about the compilation of the Qur’an and the genuineness of its version in our hands.

To add to the detailed notes from (A.P.), I wrote to the greatest living Scholar-divines, the Mujtahids in Iran and Iraq and have obtained their respective verdicts about the ‘Tahrif’ in Qur’an to display in original the decisive verdict of the Shi’a world. (Vide the Fatwahs).

Thus, be it known that any talk against the genuineness, and the completeness, of the Qur’an and its originality or the correctness of the arrangement of the matter therein, is an anti-Shi’a, i.e., an anti-Islamic move.

As regards the other doctrines of Islam, against which grossly slanderous allegations are made and the mind of the general public is poisoned, I have given short explanatory notes under each topic and have also quoted one or two of the many verses of the Qur’an on which the doctrine and their practice is based. This has been given just for the information of the seekers of truth, and for the general public to know what actually means the Original Islam which just to be identified or distinguished from the other sectarian groups, is termed as Shi’ism.

• 1. Al-Hakim al-Naysaburi, al-Mustadrak ‘ala as-Sahihayn, Vol.3, p. 126; Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, al-Isti’ab, Vol.3, p. 1102.
• 2. Vide the Introduction to Sale’s Qur’an, by Sir E. Dennison Ross, C.I.E., Ph.D. etc., published by Ms. Frederick Warne Co., London.
• 3. Sale’s Preliminary discourse to his translation of the Holy Qur’an.
• 4. Lecture on the Ideals of Islam, Madras, 1918.
• 5. De Lacy O’Leary, Islam at the Cross-roads, London 1923, p. 8.
• 6. The English statesman and orator, Edmund Burke, in his “Impeachment of Warren Hastings.
• 7. Vide the Hadith ath-Thaqalain given on one of the title pages.
• 8. Vide 2:185; 44:3; 97:1.