TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING THE QUR’ĀN abridged version is a fresh English rendering of Tafhīm al-Qur’ān, Sayyid Mawdūdīʾs monumental and masterly Urdu translation of the Qur’ān and a selection of his commentary. Here is a work with a difference, by a scholar of an entirely different sort. An immense wealth of profound understanding of the Qur’ān is here, a vast treasure of knowledge and deep insight, and a valuable exposition of some social, political, economic and legal teachings of the Qur’ān. But what makes this work unique is that it presents the Qur’ān as a book to be lived by, a mission to be lived for, and a duty that a reader can no longer evade or postpone. This rare quality is imparted not only by the depth of his scholarship and style of exposition, but also because Sayyid Mawdūdī lived by what he expounded as his life abundantly proves.

Despite being an abridged version it endeavours to answer many contemporary questions, and makes the Qur’ān fully relevant to the concerns of our day, yet it loses nothing of its timelessness nor sacrifices any of the traditional understanding. It demonstrates the unity and coherence of the Qur’ān by centring everything in it on its message, like pearls hung upon a single thread. A Glossary, Biographical Notes and General and Subject Indexes add to the understanding of the Qur’ān. To sum up: in this work, Sayyid Mawdūdī is offering us what we need most to understand and live by the Qur’ān.