Read Through: The Quran Retranslated

I am reading the new translations by Dr. Kashif Khan you can find them at this blog. I found them so fascinating that I started to organize his site for him and help him upload posts. I want to restate what he has said. His articles are verbose and it’s clear that there is a lot of passion and that his work is that of a scholar. I would like to simplify the meaning of these verses, if possible, to make the concepts accessible to the average person.

Please use the links to his articles and check my work. I may make a mistake in my understanding and we each are responsible to verify what we learn. When someone sends me an email I go to the source material and verify it myself. That should be your practice as well.

WARNING: This translation will be vastly different from everything else that I have found. It does not conform with traditional translations and it’s truly feels right to me. I am sharing this because I no longer need to live with the cognitive dissonance that is so common in religions. I feel others who are seeking the truth would find this translation refreshing.

6 – Essential Beliefs

The second chapter of the Quran starts with these four verses:

الم – ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهِ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِيْنَ

الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّـلَاةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ

وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ مِن قَبْلِكَ وَبِالآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ

“To Muhammad-The above defined/indicated book is absolutely perfect in its instruction for perfectionists

Those who believe with the overwhelming craziness, and those who carry out their duty to follow God and those who disburse from Our provisions to them.

And those who believe inclusively on your revelation and including revelation from before yours and the next accepted by them with trust”

word-for-word correct translation of the verse 2:1 through 2:4 of the quran

Boiling it down there are 6 points addressed here:

1. Believe with an overwhelming affirmation
2. Carry out your duty as “A Follower/An Obeyer”(of Allah)
3. Continually distribute from what Allah provides you
4. Believing and accepting overall revelation towards Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
5. Believing and accepting inclusively all revelations from before Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
6. Believing and accepting the future revelation inclusively without any doubt

Believing with all your heart with an unshakable certainty. The next part is about agency. The “doing” where that belief(potential) becomes action(kinetic). You believe in a creator, great! Now, what are you going to do about it. As they say “Put your money where your mouth is.”

Continually distribute from what you have been given. Here is where our first true purpose is. Imagine all of humanity as one organism. If there is excess wealth is some areas that is creating poverty. To force people to change will only lead to excess power in another area. Each person should willingly distribute what they have been given. If you are educated, teach. If you are wealthy, spend. If you are talented in some area, have a given skill, have resources, food or material then provide. We will see later that this all comes under following our creator. We are trying to follow the attribute of being a provider, teacher, confidant, friend and so many other great qualities that our creator has.

The next two are common enough in contemporary Islam, when it comes to revelations from our creator, believe in this revelation and believe in the ones before this one. Although it is common enough I have noticed many recite the Arabic like some sort of chant or magic protection. This book is a guide without reading and understanding it there really isn’t a point. My desire to understand it and finding contradictions in almost all of the translations, has led me to this translation. The Quran doesn’t state just the Bible and Torah but that is what is popularized. Nor does the Quran say that it is the final message. If you compare translations there is a verse that says Muhammad(dun) is the “seal” of the prophets. That is the only quranic evidence, to my knowledge, that is used by scholars to justify the claim. If this was the final message, wouldn’t you think it would be stated more than once? If you read the Quran with the assumption that this book is one in a many line of books, that have come before it and that will come after it, then it makes more sense.

Practice of Allah is never altered and neither is Allah’s practice dissolved.

Correct translation 35:43

Verse 35:43 is what I have always logically believed. If religious books are from an All-Knowing creator than why are there so many different version. The Quran would have to be the same message. Logically, our creator made us with some purpose. Things haven’t “changed” like so many people like to claim. The underlying fabric of humanity is the same as it has always been. So why do we need a different set of rules. I was found the Christian concept of Jesus being the only one who can save us to be illogical. If we needed Jesus (the messiah) to save us then why didn’t he show up right next to Adam? Between Adam and Jesus we cannot say that everyone is doomed and still say our creator is merciful. If there is a loophole before Jesus then why didn’t it continue so Jesus didn’t have to die? In the same vein why did Allah make alcohol to suddenly forbid it later? Why didn’t Allah give 5 daily prayers to Jesus if he was a Prophet? Where are the verses of the Quran that talk about Abraham’s commitment to his prayers? We see verses that he stopped the practice of worship. That is what is in-line with the Quran. The message is one message. It has always been the same. One message. One Creator. One People. Worship isn’t a part of it. It’s about doing the “right thing.” A message that everyone can agree on because it makes sense. When that message deviates to far or there are people who haven’t received the message, then a prophet arrises among those people to convey the same message. This set of universal truths that we can all agree upon.

Source: https://quranguideblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/04/6-essential-elements-of-belief/