Basharaat-E-Ahmadiyya Newsletter December 2012 - The Lahore ...

59 Basharaat-E-Ahmadiyya Volume 2012 • December 2012
The Religion of Islam
— Re-typeset and Now Printed!
By Dr. Noman Malik
For the Ahmadiyya Anjuman
Ishaat Islam, (Lahore) USA
Al-hamdolillah! The newly
typeset Religion of Islam
has been printed.
Since The Religion of Islam
was published in 1936, world
events have proven that this
book is as much needed today
as it was when it first appeared
76 years ago. As the famous
British Muslim and translator of
the Holy Quran, Marmaduke
Pickthall explained the importance
and value of this work
while reviewing it in the Islamic
Culture (Hyderabad Dn.) in
October 1936:
“…Such a book is greatly
needed at the present day
when in many Muslim countries
we see persons eager for the
reformation and revival of
Islam, making mistakes
through lack of just this knowledge…”
Due to the efforts of Mrs.
Samina Malik, Vice-President
of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman
Ishaat Islam, (Lahore) USA, this
book has been certified by Al-
Azhar, Al-Sharif Islamic Research
Academy. When it was translated
into Arabic in 2006, Mrs. Samina
Malik asked the late Grand Imam of
Al-Azhar Al- Sharif, Dr. Muhammad
Sayed Tantawi, to review the manuscript
and write a Foreword for its
publication in Arabic.
He reviewed the manuscript for
four months and then prepared a
Foreword, which is incorporated in
this edition. In his Foreword, he
praises the book and commends
Maulana Muhammad Ali for his
dedicated service to Islam. The high
esteem in which Sheikh Tantawi
held Maulana Muhammad Ali and
The Religion of Islam can be evi-
denced by the fact that he would
quote from it in important matters.
In his widespread rebuttal to a
statement made by Pope Benedict
XVI about Islam, Sheikh Tantawi
quotes from The Religion of Islam
and directs the reader to the rele-
vant chapter in the book for more
information about the tolerant and
peaceful nature of the faith.
In this edition, the entire book
has been reformatted and re-typeset.
Verses of the Quran found within
the text have also been thoroughly
checked and revised
accordingly. In addition, some
changes in terminology have been
made in this edition. In the first edition
of this work, the honorific title
Holy preceded the words Quran
and Prophet (when referring to the
Prophet Muhammad), so that the
text read Holy Quran and the Holy
Prophet.
In subsequent editions, published
after Maulana Muhammad
Ali’s demise, the honorific title Holy
was deleted to reduce redundancy.
In this 2012 edition, the honorific
title Holy is reinstated, as it was
deemed appropriate to maintain the
original, distinctive features of the
author’s work. Likewise, Arabic
words such as Hadith and Ijtihad
present in the first edition were
replaced in later editions by
their English translations
(Tradition and Exercise of
Judgment respectively). As
these Arabic words have now
become quite common, the
original Arabic words present in
the first edition are included in
this edition.
This 2012 edition is the
result of sacrifices from many
dedicated volunteers.
Proofreading of this volume
was a challenging task, and
special mention must be made
of Mrs Naseera Ahmad who
painstakingly proof-read the
entire book several times.
Finally, we would like to
express our debt and gratitude
to Maulana Muhammad Ali for
producing this valuable book
and our sincere gratefulness to
Almighty Allah (SWT) for giving us
the opportunity to work towards
spreading the noble teachings of
Islam through this renowned classic.
We would like to end in the
words of Sheikh Muhammad Sayed
Tantawi:
“…I have read the book titled
“Religion of Islam” by Allama
Maulana Muhammed Ali, may Allah
Grant him His mercy. In this valuable
book I have seen devotion,
truthfulness of faith and useful
knowledge. I pray to Allah, the
Honorable, the Majestic, to consider
this great book as a part of his
good deeds. May peace and blessings
of Allah be upon Prophet
Muhammed and upon his family
and companions.”