The Qur’an: A Contemporary Understanding

Safi Kaskas’ translation of the Qur’an is path breaking for the field of interfaith reconciliation, and here is the reason. It is well known in the history of Biblical and sacred literature translations how easily texts can be pushed, through translation biases, toward either a more confrontational approach to the world or a more conciliatory approach. Key words and their translations play a critical role in how a civilization is seen in terms of their sacred scriptures. The Kaskas translation will have a major impact precisely because there is a carefully crafted intention to translate with an eye to eliminating the biases of previous translations.

Many previous translations contained more aggressive, confrontational, or triumphalist presentations of Islam