Sayyid Maududi's Tafhim-ul-Qur'an - Quran Study Group

Sayyid Maududi's Tafhim-ul-Qur'an
Maududi's translation and commentary on the Qur'an, "The Meaning of the
Qur'an", ranks as one of the best such works in existence today. Unlike
many early translators, Maududi uses the standard technique of providing an
explanation of the Qur'anic verses from the Sunnah of the Prophet (sas),
including the historical reasons behind the verses. Below is a list of
Maududi's introductions to each chapter in the Qur'an. Unfortunately, this
represents a very small portion of the six volumes which comprise the
complete commentary.
MSA-USC acknowledges Mr. T. Jangda (tjangda@compuserve.com) for providing
these files.
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1. AL-FATIHAH
2. AL-BAQARAH
3. AL-I-IMRAN
4. AN-NISA
5. AL-MA'IDAH
6. AL-AN`AM
7. AL-A`ARAF
8. AL-ANFAL
9. AT-TAUBAH
10. YUNUS
11. HUD
12. YUSUF
13. AR-RA`AD
14. IBRAHIM
15. AL-HIJR
16. AN-NAHL
17. BANI ISRA'IL
18. AL-KAHF
19. MARYAM
20. TA HA
21. AL-ANBIYAA
22. AL-HAJJ
23. AL-MU'MINUN
24. AN-NUR
25. AL-FURQAN
26. ASH-SHU`ARAA'
27. AN-NAML
28. AL-QASAS
29. AL-`ANKABUT
30. AR-RUM
31. LUQMAN
32. AS-SAJDAH
33. AL-AHZAB
34. SABA
35. FATIR
36. YA SIN
37. AS-SAAFFAT
38. SUAD
39. AZ-ZUMAR
40. AL-MU'MIN
41. HA-MIM AS-SAJDAH
42. ASH-SHURA
43. AZ-ZUKHRUF
44. AD-DUKHAN
45. AL-JATHIYAH
46. AL-AHQAF
47. MUHAMMAD
48. AL-FAT-H
49. AL-HUJURAT
50. QAF
51. ADH-DHARIYAT
52. AT-TUR
53. AN-NAJM
54. AL-QAMAR
55. AR-RAHMAN
56. AL-WAQI`AH
57. AL-HADID
58. AL-MUJADALAH
59. AL-HASHR
60. AL-MUMTAHINAH
61. AS-SAFF
62. AL-JUMU`AH
63. AL-MUNAFIQUN
64. AT-TAGHABUN
65. AT-TALAQ
66. AT-TAHRIM
67. AL-MULK
68. AL-QALAM
69. AL-HAAQQAH
70. AL-MA`ARIJ
71. NUH
72. JINN
73. AL-MUZZAMMIL
74. AL-MUDDATHTHIR
75. AL-QIYAMAH
76. AD-DAHR
77. AL-MURSALAT
78. AL-NABA
79. AN-NAZI`AT
80. `ABASA
81. AT-TAKWIR
82. AL-INFITAR
83. AL-MUTAFFIFIN
84. AL-INSHIQAQ
85. AL-BURUJ
86. AT-TARIQ
87. AL-A`LA
88. AL-GHASHIYAH
89. AL-FAJR
90. AL-BALAD
91. ASH-SHAMS
92. AL-LAIL
93. AD-DUHA
94. ALAM-NASHRAH
95. AT-TIN
96. AL-`ALAQ
97. AL-QADR
98. AL-BAYYINAH
99. AL-ZILZAL
100. AL-`ADIYAT
101. AL-QARI`AH
102. AT-TAKATHUR
103. AL-`ASR
104. AL-HUMAZAH
105. AL-FIL
106. QURAISH
107. AL-MA`UN
108. AL-KAUTHAR
109. AL-KAFIRUN
110. AN-NASR
111. AL-LAHAB
112. AL-IKHLAS
113. AL-FALAQ
114. AN-NAS


AL-FATIHAH (1)

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Name

This Surah is named AL-FATIHAH because of its subject-matter. Fatihah is
that which opens a subject or a book or any other thing. In other words, Al-
Fatihah is a sort of preface.

Period of Revelation

It is one of the very earliest Revelations to the Holy Prophet. As a matter
of fact, we learn from authentic Traditions that it was the first complete
Surah which was revealed to Muhammed (Allah's peace be upon him). Before
this, only a few miscellaneous verses were revealed which form parts of
`ALAQ, MUZ-ZAMMIL, MUD-DATH-THIR, etc.

Theme

This Surah is in fact a prayer which Allah has taught to all those who want
to make a study of His book. It has been placed at the very beginning of
the book to teach this lesson to the reader: if you sincerely want to
benefit from the Quran, you should offer this prayer to the Lord of the
Universe.
This preface is meant to create a strong desire in the heart of the reader
to seek guidance from the Lord of the Universe, Who alone can grant it.
Thus AL-FATIHAH indirectly teaches that the best thing for a man is to pray
for guidance to the straight path, to study the Quran with the mental
attitude of a seeker- after-truth and to recognize the fact that the Lord
of the Universe is the source of all knowledge. He should, therefore, begin
the study of the Quran with a prayer to him for guidance.
From this theme, it becomes clear that the real relation between AL-FATIHAH
and the Quran is not that of an introduction to a book but that of a prayer
and its answer. AL-FATIHAH is the prayer from the servant and the Quran is
the answer from the Master to his prayer. The servant prays to Allah to
show him guidance and the Master places the whole of the Quran before him
in answer to his prayer, as if to say, "This is the Guidance you begged
from Me."





















AL-BAQARAH (2)

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Name

Why the name AL-BAQARAH?
AL-BAQARAH (the Cow) has been so named from the story of the Cow occurring
in this Surah (vv. 67-73). It has not, however, been used as a title to
indicate the subject of the Surah. It will, therefore, be as wrong to
translate the name Al-Baqarah into "The Cow" or "The Heifer" as to
translate any English name, say Baker, Rice, Wolf etc., into their
equivalents in other languages or vice versa, because this would imply that
the Surah dealt with the subject of "The Cow". Many more Surahs of the
Quran have been named in the same way because no comprehensive words exist
in Arabic (in spite of its richness) to denote the wide scope of the
subject discussed in them. As a matter of fact all human languages suffer
from the same limitation.

Sequence

Though it is a Madani Surah, it follows naturally a Makki Surah Al-
Fatihah, which ended with the prayer :"Show us the straight way". It begins
with the answer to that prayer, "This is the Book (that) . . . is guidance.
. ."
The greater part of Al-Baqarah was revealed during the first two years of
the Holy Prophet's life at Al-Madinah. The smaller part which was revealed
at a later period has been included in this Surah because its contents are
closely related to those dealt with in this Surah. For instance, the verses
prohibiting interest were revealed during the last period of the Holy
prophet's life but have been inserted in this Surah. For the same reason,
the last verses (284-286) of this Surah which were revealed at Makkah
before the migration of the Holy Prophet to AI-Madinah have also been
included in it.

Historical Background

In order to understand the meaning of this Surah, we should know its
historical background:
1. At Makkah the Quran generally addressed the mushrik Quraish who were
ignorant of Islam, but at Al- Madinah it was also concerned with the
Jews who were acquainted with the creed of the Unity of Allah,
Prophethood, Revelation, the Hereafter and angels. They also professed
to believe in the law which was revealed by Allah to their Prophet
Moses (Allah's peace be upon him), and in principle, their way was the
same (Islam) that was being taught by Prophet Muhammad (Allah's peace
be upon him). But they had strayed away from it during the centuries
of degeneration and had adopted many un- Islamic creeds, rites and
customs of which there was no mention and for which there was no
sanction in the Torah. Not only this : they had tampered with the
Torah by inserting their own explanations and interpretations into its
text. They had distorted even that part of the Word of God which had
remained intact in their Scriptures and taken out of it the real
spirit of true religion and were now clinging to a lifeless frame of
rituals. Consequently their beliefs, their morals and their conduct
had gone to the lowest depths of degeneration. The pity is that they
were not only satisfied with their condition but loved to cling to it.
Besides this, they had no intention or inclination to accept any kind
of reform. So they became bitter enemies of those who came to teach
them the Right Way and did their worst to defeat every such effort.
Though they were originally Muslims, they had swerved from the real
Islam and made innovations and alterations in it and had fallen
victims to hair splitting and sectarianism. They had forgotten and
forsaken Allah and begun to serve mammon. So much so that they had
even given up their original name "Muslim" and adopted the name "Jew"
instead, and made religion the sole monopoly of the children of
Israel.
This was their religious condition when the Holy Prophet went to Al-
Madinah and invited the Jews to the true religion. That is why more
than one third of this Surah has been addressed to the children of
Israel. A critical review of their history, their moral degeneration
and their religious perversions has been made; side by side with this
the high standard of morality and the fundamental principles of the
pure religion have been put forward in order to bring out clearly the
nature of the degeneration of the community of a prophet when it goes
astray and to draw clear lines of demarcation between real piety and
formalism, and the essentials and non-essentials of the true religion.


2. At Makkah Islam was mainly concerned with the propagation of its
fundamental principles and the moral training of its followers. But
after the migration of the Holy Prophet to Al-Madinah, where Muslims
had come to settle from all over Arabia and where a tiny Islamic State
had been set up with the help of the Ansar (local supporters),
naturally the Quran had to turn its attention to the social, cultural,
economic, political and legal problems as well. This accounts for the
difference between the themes of the surahs revealed at Makkah and
those at Al- Madinah. Accordingly about half of this Surah deals with
those principles and regulations which are essential for the
integration and solidarity of a community and for the solution o