New Qur’an Translation Targeting American Audiences Released
By M. A. Siraj
A new translation of the holy Qur’an by Indian-American space scientist Dr. Nazeer Ahmed, titled The Qur’an: An English Translation, was released at the Bangalore Press Club. Printed in Bangalore, the translation has been published by The American Institute of Islamic History and Culture, California.
Introducing his work, Dr. Nazeer told the media-persons, the translation is in simple American English and is primarily meant to introduce its message to the Americans whose minds had been abused by the misleading propaganda by vested interests linking Islam to terrorism.
The first copy was released by Maulana Riyazur Rahman Rashadi, Imam at the Jama Masjid in Bangalore city. He presented the first copy to A. Jayaram, a veteran journalist, and formerly resident editor of The Hindu. Speaking on the occasion, Jayaram said Islam was a religion of peace and its image has been greatly maligned in the recent days in the wake of 9/11 attack on the WTC. He said people confuse several of the cultural norms prevalent in various lands with the scriptural text and interpret the religion. He said burqa was not exclusive to Muslims, and even Hindu, Jain, Jewish and Christian women observe hijab in varied forms and in various regions of the world.
Dr Nazeer Ahmed said the translation was specifically targeted for American audiences and is an attempt to convey the message in the simplest of language. “It stays true to the literal words of the Arabic text and captures the loving, spiritual appeal of the Book,” he added. He said, being from the field of science, he had tried to elaborate upon certain scientific clues and themes of the Qur’an.
Nazeer, born in Tumkur near Bangalore, came to America in 1961 as Institute scholar at the California Institute of Technology. He obtained MS and AeE degrees from Caltech, PhD from Cornell University , and MBA from NYU and Rider. He worked on the Land Rover and Apollo projects for NASA Marshal Space Flight Center and the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama in 1964-65. In 1978, he returned to India for a short while and won the Assembly election for Karnataka Assembly. He, however, resigned after a year and resumed his main calling as the space scientist. He has authored nearly half a dozen books on science, religion and philosophy. He has also compiled an Encyclopedia of Islamic History, which can be accessed on www.historyofislam.com. It runs into 9,000 pages.
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