AUS professor Joseph Lumbard coauthors The Study Quran

American University of Sharjah (AUS) professor Dr. Joseph Lumbard, along with other Muslim scholars, has recently launched The Study Quran, a new translation of the meanings and commentary (Tafseer) of the holy book of Quran.

Created over a span of 10 years under the direction of Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a world-renowned authority on Islamic thought, The Study Quran is described as "accurate, accessible and reliable in how it renders the sacred text."

Prominent Islamic scholar and cofounder of Zaytuna College Hamza Yusuf said, "This is perhaps the most important work done on the Islamic faith in the English language to date." He added, "We owe a great debt to Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, one of the intellectual giants of our time, and his team for bringing this labor of love to fruition."

Dr. Lumbard, Assistant Professor in the Department of Arabic and Translation Studies at AUS, said, "As Muslims, it is our responsibility and our right to speak for and present our tradition to the West. As the first verse-by-verse commentary on the Quran in any European language, The Study Quran has the potential to significantly alter the reception and understanding of the Quran in the West. The Study Quran provides much more than a verse-by-verse commentary that helps readers-Muslim and non-Muslim alike-better understand the text. It also highlights the history of interpretation, which can then be applied to understand the various schools of Islam."

Dr. Lumbard, along with general editors Caner K. Dagli and Maria Massi Dakake and assistant editor Mohammed Rustom, created the translation of the meanings and commentary of Quran.

With over 2,000 pages, The Study Quran, published by HarperOne, represents "a work of extraordinary significance that helps the general reader appreciate the rich and multilayered ways in which Muslim scholars have dynamically engaged with their holy book," writes Ali Asani of Harvard University.

The book provides an insightful general introduction that helps orient readers on the origins of the Quran. Each chapter has its own introduction with a summary of content and other background information. The commentary covers the entire translation of the meanings and discusses questions of rituals, theology, law, ethics, metaphysics, the spiritual life and other topics. The book also includes 15 companion essays from various scholars around the world who offer insight on all aspects of the Quran.

Dr. Lumbard is a specialist in Quranic studies, Sufism, Islamic philosophy, comparative theology and Islamic ecotheology. He is the editor of Islam, Fundamentalism, and the Betrayal of Tradition (2nd edition, 2010), and author of Submission, Faith, and Beauty: The Religion of Islam (2009) and Love and Remembrance: The Life and Teachings of Ahmad al-Ghazālī (2016). His most recent articles have appeared on The Huffington Post.