Introduction to the Study of the Holy Qur'an. Maulana Muhammad Ali

— (aspirated d, between d and z) — dz

      ta — (strongly articulated palatal t) — t

      za — (strongly articulated palatal z) — z

      ‘ain — (somewhat like a strong guttural hamzah, not a mere vowel) — ‘

      ghain — (guttural g, but soft) — gh

      fa — (same as f) — f

      qaf — (strongly articulated guttural k) — q

      kaf — (same as k) — k

      lam — (same as l) — l

      mim — (same as m) — m

      nun — (same as n) — n

      ha — (same as h) — h

      waw — (same as w) — w

      ya — (same as y) — y

      Vowels

      The vowels are represented as follows:

      Short vowels:

      — ’ — fathah, as u in tub — a

      — ’ — kasrah, as i in pin — i

      Long vowels:

      — — long fathah, as a in father — a

      — — long kasrah, as ee in deep — i

      — ‘ — long dammah, as oo in moot — u

      — — fathah before waw — au

      — — fathah before ya — ai

      Tanwin ’’ ’’ ‘’ is represented by an, in, un, respectively. The short and long vowels at the end of a word are shown as parts of the words, as qala where the final a stands for the fathah on lam, but the tanwin is shown as a separate syllable, as Muhammad-in.

      Proper Names

      Biblical proper names are not transliterated, but their Biblical form is adopted; other names are transliterated according to the rules of transliteration. Hence the reader will notice a change in such names as Mecca which should be written as Makkah, Medina which should be written as Madinah, Yemen which should be written as Yaman, and so on.

      The following list shows the Biblical names and their Arabic equivalents:

      Biblical Names— Arabic Form

      Aaron — Harun

      Abraham — Ibrahim

      Adam — Adam

      Amran — ‘Imran

      Babel — Babil

      David — Dawud

      Egypt — Misr

      Elias — Ilyas

      Ezra — ‘Uzair

      Elisha — Al-Yash‘a

      Gabriel — Jibril

      Gog — Ya’juj

      Goliath — Jalut

      Gospel — Injil

      Isaac — Ishaq

      Ishmael — Isma‘il

      Jacob — Ya‘qub

      Jesus — ‘Isa

      Jew — Yahudi

      Job — Ayyub

      John — Yahya

      Jonah — Yunus

      Korah — Qarun

      Lot — Lut

      Magog — Ma’juj

      Mary — Maryam

      Michael — Mikal

      Moses — Musa

      Noah — Nuh

      Pharaoh — Fir‘aun

      Saul — Talut

      Sheba — Saba’

      Soloman — Sulaiman

      Torah — Taurat

      Zacharias — Zakariyya

      About the author

      Born in 1874 in the Punjab (India) Maulana Muhammad Ali had a distinguished academic record, obtaining degrees in English and Law by 1899. As he stood on the threshold of a lucrative career in law, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, the reformer (mujaddid) of the 14th century Hijra, called on him to devote his life to the service of Islam. He forthwith abandoned his worldly plans and joined the great reformer in Qadian. Here he learned those gems of Islamic truth uncovered in this age by Hazrat Mirza Sahib through which Islam was now destined to attract people all over the world. He became the secretary of the organization and was appointed by Hazrat Mirza Sahib as the editor of the Review of Religions, one of the first Islamic journals in English. Under his editorship this journal presented the pristine beautiful face of Islam to a world which had seen only an ugly image of it.

      When the successor of Hazrat Mirza Sahib, Maulana Nuruddin Sahib, died in 1914 certain elements in the organization led by the founder’s son gained control of the movement, turning it into an exclusive intolerant sect ruled by a spiritual autocracy. They distorted and misrepresented Hazrat Mirza Sahib’s views by asserting that he had claimed prophethood. These circumstances compelled Maulana Muhammad Ali to leave Qadian, and he along with his associates established the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at Islam in Lahore to continue Hazrat Mirza Sahib’s real mission. From that date until his death in 1951 he led this society, organized its worldwide missionary activities, and produced a vast amount of invaluable scholarly literature in English and Urdu. His major works include: translations of the Holy Quran with detailed commentaries in both English and Urdu, The Religion of Islam, A Manual of Hadith, Fazl-i-Bari an exhaustive commentary on the Sahih Bukhari in Urdu, Muhammad the Prophet, The New World Order, the Early Caliphate, and the Living Thoughts of the Prophet Muhammad. This unique collection of books presents a picture of Islam restored to its original purity—a religion of peace, tolerance, and spirituality. The Maulana’s contribution to Islamic literature and revival of Islam has been highly acclaimed by eminent Muslims all over the world. A famous British Muslim scholar and translator of the Holy Quran, Marmaduke Pickthall, while reviewing the Maulana’s monumental work the Religion of Islam, wrote in 1936 “Probably no living man has done longer or more valuable service for the cause of Islamic revival than Maulana Muhammad Ali of Lahore…”