The Meaning of “Indeed, We Offered the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth”
Allah Almighty says: “Indeed, We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and…
Tafsir
Tafsir is the discipline of interpreting the Qur’an, and this topic collects Shaykh Akram Nadwi’s writing on how its verses are best understood. The articles distinguish interpretation, deeper meaning, and reflection, and offer fresh readings that stay anchored in the tradition. They are for readers who want to move past translation towards the science of understanding the text.
Featured in Tafsir
★ Featured
The Quran: A Living Dialogue of the Contemporary Age
The Quran: Historical Text or Living Address? Regarding the understanding and interpretation of the Holy Quran, the most fundamental question is whether this book is merely a historical text—its relevance confined to the era of…
Filter By Topic
Men don’t own women
“The believing men and believing women are supporters of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid…
Tafsir of Surah Al-Ikhlas
1. The Greatness of Surah Al-Ikhlas They asked: What is Surah Al-Ikhlas? I replied: It is the greatest…
Understanding ‘and strike them’
Men have charge over women by that [with which] God has favoured some among them over others, and…
The Qur’anic translations
(Revised version) Q. Mr Haider Ali Nadwi, an `alim from Bhopal in India, wrote to me asking whether…
The Qur’an should not be valued as merely a sacred object
1. Allah says in the Qur’an about the Qur’an, that it is a self-consistent, coherent message from the…
A few thoughts on Surat al-`Ankabut
The surah begins with the question: “a hasiba n-nasu ‘an…” It is not right to translate hasiba as…
Al `Imran 121-130
The Qur’an is not revealed to human minds and hearts cut off from their pasts. It is not…
Surah Al `Imran: Overview
The tried and tested way of teaching the Qur’an is to work through it verse by verse, striving…
The Food of the People of the Book
By this link They said to me: We have some problems understanding verse five of Sūrah al-Māʾidah: “and…
1. SUMMARY OVERVIEW
PREFACE (§1–3; 1–3) The opening supplication is followed by a statement of author intent. Ibn Taymiyya aims, in…
The Nexus between Qurʾān and Sunnah
By this link: Clarify for us the true connection between the Qurʾān and the Sunnah. I asked: What…
Questions & Answers on Tafsir
View all Q&A →Surah Baqarah verse 62
My respected student, Mr Ali Rasul, from Dallas, USA, asked me the following question: As-salāmu ʿalaykum Ustād, In Ayah 62 of Sūrah al-Baqarah, Allah says: “Indeed, those who believed, and those who were Jews, Christians, or Sabians, whoever believes in…
A question regarding an incident in Surah al-Qasas
as-salamu `alaykum Shaykh. I hope your Ramadan is going well. I wanted to ask you about the incident in Surah al-Qasas when Musa (AS) accidentally killed an Egyptian. After this incident, Moses ran away, but never sought forgiveness from the…
Removing Doubts About the Tafsīr of “And the food of those given the scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them” (Qurʾān 5:5)
Removing Doubts About the Tafsīr of “And the food of those given the scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them” (Qurʾān 5:5)