Vishudda Qur'an Vivarthanam (Bahauddeen Muhammed Nadwi)

Vishudda Qur'an Vivarthanam ("Translation of the Holy Qur'an") is a Malayalam rendering of the meanings of the Qur'an by Bahauddeen Muhammed Nadwi, published in one volume in 2015, and the first Malayalam translation to present the verses in thematic paragraphs. ¹

Nadwi is a co-founder of Darul Huda Islamic University in South India and has been its vice chancellor since 2009. ¹

The Mappila Muslims of Kerala have a long history of Qur'an translation: the first in Arabi Malayalam script in 1867, the first in Malayalam script completed in 1953 and published in 2009, the first published in Malayalam script in 1961, and others such as Fath al-Rahman in 1971. ¹

Nadwi began in 2004, aiming at a comprehensive single-volume translation acceptable to intellectuals and the general public, and finished in 2015. ¹ The verses keep their canonical order but are grouped in thematic paragraphs; a long preface answers the question "What is the Qur'an and what is it for?"; the commentary covers the occasions of revelation and what the translator presents as "scientific miracles"; and appendices of maps cover events such as the hijra, the battles and the conquest of Mecca, with references to the suras and pages. ¹ He varies his rendering of the same word with context, and sometimes uses local terms familiar to Keralites. ¹

Suhair Thottupurath singles it out among Malayalam translations for combining translation and commentary in one volume, for its clarity for a general audience and for its caution with isra'iliyyat. ¹

• Suhair Thottupurath, "Qur'an translation of the week #191", The Global Qur'an, 2024. ¹