Logo

The present work, a critical study of sixty (60) complete English translation of the Quran, carried out form 1649 to 2009, seeks to guide readers in selecting a suitable translation for their study out of the many available in bookshops and libraries. For this collection of analytical reviews on each translation, attempts to identify the ideological and sectarian affiliation, mindset, features, and strengths and weaknesses of every translator.

A critical study of English translations is a largely neglected field of study. At many levels, nonetheless, it is a fascinating area of study. On the one hand, it mirrors the main contours of the misconceptions and perceptions about the Quran and Islam in the West, as reflected in most of the orientalist versions of the Quran, namely those by Ross, Sale, Rodwell, Palmer, Bell and Jones. On the other, it is illustrative of the gradual, steady Muslim intellectual response, rather rejoinder to the orientalists’s attacks on the Quran. At yet another, it points to the increasing sectarian bias in some of the recent Muslim translations of the Quran.