RQR | Review of Qur’anic Research Shari Lowin, Editor
[email protected] www.iqsaweb.org Review of Qur’anic Research, vol. 5, no. 4 (2019) Abdur Raheem KIDWAI God’s Word, Man’s Interpretations: A Critical Study of the 21st Century Translations of the Quran New Delhi: Viva Books, 2018. Pp. xvii + 178. Paperback Rs 695. ISBN 978-9387486294 Colleagues and fellow scholars of Islam, how many times have you been asked about the best English translations of the Qurʾān and how many times have you mumbled in response something along the lines of “Arberry is good, there is Yusuf Ali, Abdel Haleem’s is more recent I guess”? Abdur Raheem Kidwai’s God’s Word, Man’s Interpretations is the book to read for a better, more learned answer concerning the English translations of the Qurʾān that have appeared since 2000. Kidwai’s admirable effort in this book can truly spare the scholars of Islam the time of sifting through the ever-growing numbers of recent translations—that is, if one can look past his unflinching policing on behalf of the Sunni-Jamāʿī interpretations of the Qurʾān and his unapologetic disdain for every other approach to the Qurʾān including what he calls “the Orientalist enterprise” (142). RQR | Review of Qur’anic Research Shari Lowin, Editor
[email protected] www.iqsaweb.org Kidwai’s book is organized as short book reviews (from 2 to 6–7 pages, except in the case of one 11-page outlier) evaluating thirty-two English Qurʾān translations published between 2000 and 2017. In addition, the book has a short preface and an appendix titled “Tafsir Studies: An Assessment of the Orientalist Enterprise,” both written by the author, as well as a comprehensive bibliography of studies on Qurʾān translation prepared by Sajid Shaffi.