US President in White House Studying Holy Quran Translation by Allama Noor-ud-Din— Well, sort of.
Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri.
House of Cards is TV series produced by streaming service Netflix. This is American political drama. In recent past in one of its show actor playing role of US President is studying/ consulting Holy Quran translation. When he places it on table the shot shows Holy Quran translation by Allama Noor-ud-Din (rendered into English by his daughter-in-law Mrs. Amtul Rehman Omar and son Abdul Mannan Omar).
Well of course this is drama. We pray one day it becomes a reality and US President does consult the modern, intellectual, peaceful, rational, and inspiring interpretation of Holy Quran by Allama Noor-ud-Din, who has been a source of all such interpretations and translations; from Maulana Muhammad Ali, Maulana Sher Ali, Abdullah Yousaf Ali, to Muhammad Asad etc.
In another related news. An American actress Lindsay Lohan, who is having troubles with law in last few years, has been spotted carrying, with hope of studying, Holy Quran translation. This translation is by Maulana Sher Ali, published by Qadiani Jamaat. Late Maulana Sher Ali was father of Mrs. Amtul Rehman Omar and father in-law of Abdul Mannan Omar. Maulana Sher Ali was student of Maulana Muhammad Ali. Under guidance of Maulana Muhammad Ali, Maulana Sher Ali did Holy Quran translation and commentary of Holy Quran. Later he went to England to have its English language reviewed by Arthur John Arberry. English translation of Holy Quran was published, in 1955, under instructions of Abdul Mannan Omar sahib, while he was in charge of Holy Quran publications, in Rabwah, Pakistan. He could not get commentary published, due to lack of funds, at that time. Later the SAME Holy Quran commentary was published by Qadiani Jamaat in form of 5 VOLUME COMMENTARY in 1988, under name of Qadiani Khalifa 2 Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad.
Link to House of Cards:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Cards_%28U.S._TV_series%29
http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/70178217
Link to Lindsay Lohan:
Link to A. J. Arberry:
From ikram:
In early 1990s I was watching an interview of Louis Farrakhan, the head of Nation of Islam by Barbara Walters of ABC News. There on the table was the English translation and commentary by Maulana Muhammad Ali.
Rashid, the online 5 volume English translation and commentary is attributed wholly to QK-2 (link) and there is no mention of Maulvi Sher Ali sahib. There are also two similar works in Urdu attributed to QK2 as well, the Tafseer-e-Kabir (link) and Tafsir-e-Saghir (link). Are these works by his pen?
From ikram:
House of Cards – screen grab
http://justmytwodinars.tumblr.com/post/112263005303/the-president-reading-the-quran-in-the-white
From ikram:
In light of current topic about elders of our Jamaat, I cannot resist submitting the following excerpt from Commentary of Chapter 94 (Al-Inshirah – The Expansion) of the Holy Quran, by Dr. Basharat Ahmad, Translated by Imam Kalamazad Mohammed. It is a poignant narrative with similarities to our times:
Today, too, Islam has fallen on hard times and all kinds of filthy allegations and vicious slander have been heaped on the Holy Prophet by Christian priests and Arya Samajists and the foulest kinds of literature have been circulated against the religion. Muslim political power has been broken and no stone is left unturned in the attempt to humiliate Muslims. But Allah has promised that ease is bound to come after difficulty and that Prophet Muhammad’s dignity will definitely be more exalted. Signs of this are already evident. For example, the reason behind the appointment of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as the Mujaddid of the Age was that ease may come after hardship and that our Holy Prophet’s name may become more illustrious. Therefore, one can clearly discern that through the literature of the Mujaddid and his disciples that that era of tranquility is already beginning to take shape today in its own form. It is true that it is still only a seed but, Allah willing, the time will soon come when it will grow into a gigantic tree for all to behold.
This is what the Mujaddid meant when he spoke consolingly to Maulana Nur-ud-Din who was in a state of depression at the time (concerning the piteous state of Islam). He relieved his mind with the following words: "Maulvi Sahib," he said, "when the moon is just born, only those gifted with excellent eye-sight can see it on the first night. No one else can. When it becomes a full moon, then the whole world sees it. In the same way, I have beheld the crescent moon of the resurgence of Islam. Allah willing, the time will come when it will shine in its full splendour for all the world to see."
It is this same idea that he expressed in poetic form in the following couplet:
A rahi hai ab to khusbu mere Yusuf ki mujhe
–The scent of my Joseph is coming to me now.
Go kaho diwana lekin main karunga intezar
–Even if you call me mad, I shall continue to look in expectation.
Here "Joseph" stands for the imminent rise and advance of Islam which the Mujaddid was eagerly awaiting just as the Prophet Jacob was longingly looking out for his son, Prophet Joseph.
Thus, Allah, Most High, is now gradually disclosing the signs of the progress of Islam and even in Europe itself, which energetically sought to destroy Islam, one can see that Islamic principles are slowly but surely beginning to captivate the hearts of people to such an extent that Bernard Shaw, the famous English playwright and a man of great insight and wisdom, predicted that the spiritual victory of Islam would be completed in a hundred years. And concerning the Holy Prophet, he made the pronouncement that if he should return to earth and assume the dictatorship of the world, then the world would be delivered from its present state of crisis.
Link: http://aaiil.org/text/hq/comm/bash/ch94_pf.shtml
From Zahid Aziz:
"This is what the Mujaddid meant when he spoke consolingly to Maulana Nur-ud-Din who was in a state of depression at the time (concerning the piteous state of Islam)."
I looked up the original Urdu and found that what has been translated as "state of depression" is izhar-i mayusi, which really means "expression of pessimism". The background is that Maulana Nur-ud-Din sahib expressed pessimism about the prospects of the spread of Islam in the West; hence Hazrat Mirza sahib's reply.
From Rashid Jahangiri:
@Ikram,
I remember watching ABC news program in which Barbra Walters was interviewing Louis Farrah Khan. Unfortunately, interview was in initial stage when former US President Nixon passed away, and interview was discontinued and Nixon's funeral report started.
In year 2000 i asked late Abdul Mannan Omar sahib to tell me details of Holy Quran translations and commentaries published by Qadiani Jamaat. I remember he gave me details and names of the 7 people team who worked on Tafseer-e-Kabeer and names of people who did other translations. I recorded it on audio cassette. As i find time, i will search for it and transcribe. InshAllah.