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abbreviationsxvUSED TRANSLATIONS AND THEIR ABBREVIATIONSYAAHMFMPABAhAAAYusuf Ali, The Holy Qur"an: English Translation of the Meanings and Commentary(Medina: King Fahd Holy Qur"§n Printing Complex, 1410 AH/1990).M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur"an (Oxford: Oxford University Press,2005).Majid Fakhry, An Interpretation of the Qur"an: English Translation of the Meanings(New York: New York University Press, 2000).Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of The Glorious Qur"an: AnExplanatory Translation (New Modern English Edition, Birmingham: IslamicDa"wa Centre International, 2004).Abdalhaqq and Aisha Bewley, The Noble Qur"an: A New Rendering of ItsMeaning in English (Norwich: Bookwork, 1999).Ahmad Ali, Al-Qur"§n: A Contemporary Translation (Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press, 2001).Arthur J. Arberry, The Koran Interpreted, 2 vols. (London: George Allen &Unwin, 1963).Muhammad Shahrur’s frequent use of quotations from the Qur"anwas a particular problem in the English translation, as his understandingof the Arabic text differed considerably from most availableEnglish translations. After consultation with Muhammad Shahrur,it was decided to use Yusuf Ali’s version as the default translation inthe main text, but it was felt unnecessary to replicate Ali’s antiquateduse of English personal pronouns (thy, ye, thou, etc.) and his frequentuse of capital initial letters for terms he felt had a particular spiritualresonance. However, in instances when Ali’s translation was eitherincomprehensible or completely inadequate to render Shahrur’sunderstanding of a verse, I have sought help from other translations,in particular from Abdel Haleem’s rendering. I have consulted sixof the most commonly used English translations from a variety ofdifferent linguistic, religious, and educational backgrounds. I indicatein footnotes where discrepancies between their translations andShahrur’s interpretations occur. In some instances, however, whereno translation seemed to offer any resemblance to Shahrur’s readingI have decided to use my own version based on what I thought wasthe author’s purpose in quoting a specific verse. In situations whereI thought it was vital to stress the disagreement between Shahrur’sreading of a verse and its common rendering (including those by