The Clear Quran : A Thematic English Translation : English Only

by Mustafa Khattab

For a translation to do justice to the Quran and capture its elegance and vigor, it has to be accurate, smooth, eloquent, and accessible. Unlike most popular translations, The Clear Quran® masterfully passes on all counts. To achieve accuracy, the translator has made use of the greatest and most celebrated works of old and modern tafsir (Quran commentaries), and shared the work with several Imams in North America for feedback and insight. For clarity, every effort has been made to select easy to understand words and phrases that reflect the beauty, flow, and power of the original text. Along with informative footnotes and Sura (chapter) introductions, verses have been grouped and titled based on their themes for a better understanding of the chapters, their main concepts, and internal coherence. Thanks to our dedicated team of scholars, editors, and proofreaders, we believe that what you are holding in your hands now is the finest translation of the Final Revelation.

Genres: Islam, Religion, Nonfiction, Theology, Spirituality, Faith, Ebooks

955 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 7, 2022

About the author

Dr. Mustafa Khattab is an authority on interpreting the Quran. He was a member of the first team that translated Ramadan night prayers live from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina (2002-2005). He received his Ph.D., M.A., & B.A. in Islamic Studies in English with Honors from Al-Azhar University. Khattab is the Muslim Chaplain at Brock University, a member of the Canadian Council of Imams, a Lecturer of Islamic Studies in English at Al-Azhar University, and a Fulbright Interfaith Scholar. He has served as an Imam in the U.S.A. and Canada since 2007 and is the author of The Nation of Islam (2011) and contributor to the Encyclopedia of Muslim American History (2010). His forthcoming work is Outfoxing Fox News: A Fair & Balanced Study of the Network's Coverage of Islam & Muslims After 9/11.

Reviews

[katrina french · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quran

Finished reading this during Ramadan. Started reading in October 2023 highly recommend non Muslim read with open mind. I started reading as non Muslim and ended up taking my shahada Dec 2023 finished reading as a Muslim

[afra · Rating 5 out of 5]

The BEST translation.

May Allah reward Dr. Mustafa Khattab for making this so easy and compelling. الحمد لله I’ve reread this so many times and إن شاء الله will continue to do so because you should never stop reading the Holy Book.

[Pushon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this translated version of the Quran ❤️
May Allah bless the author for his efforts and conveying a clear copy for the world to understand the Holy Book of Islam.

[alyymaas · Rating 5 out of 5]

just to clarify, the rating for this is infinite stars.

i mean, what can i rly say abt this other than the fact that it's literally a life tool? this book is and will always be such an important book in my life and it's smthn that i'll always go back to for the rest of my life (Inshallah). reading it in english, fully translated for the first time was so surreal to me (i usually read it in arabic - i did finish the arabic quran today as well which is a different copy) and overall such a beautiful experience.

honestly, this book can be for anyone. i would recommend for muslims who are non-arabic speakers to try this since u do understand what the Quran actually says.

now one of my next steps (i have a lot of goals Quran wise) is to memorize the english translation which will take time but Inshallah i'll get there.

i love the surahs filled with stories, lessons, reminders, and of course the beloved Prophets that are mentioned in this Quran.

overall, just reading Allah's words and reassurance is so important to me and has healed me in all the ways a human can be healed.

this is definitely smthn that i wanna reread (i wanna own a copy where it's both english and arabic) and one that i hold very deeply to my heart and soul.

Subhanallah & Alhumdulillah. ❤️

[Julisa ♡♡♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. What did you think of the book ? What will you take away from it? I love it . LOVE IT !!!! There can NOT be enough said or any way to describe it. When you finally read it (it took me 20 years to finally read the whole Quran ), you will know without doubt 100% that it is from the Creator. There is A Most Compassionate, most merciful God.
2. What was the aim of the book, and how well did the author fulfill it? The aim is to get a message to all of the human kind that you are made for a purpose, and there is a God. ONLY ONE GOD , Allah SWT is all-knowing and all perfect, so the Quran was the perfect example of the message.
3. Would you recommend this book to others? WHO is the target audience? I would recommend this book to everyone.The whole world is the audience. For all time and all places. It is timeless. Which only makes the Quran most wonderful because it's perfectly made for every single person.
4. One-Sentence book Review. Alhamudillah.
"And if you are in any doubt about what we sent down upon our servant (Muhammad), then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful" - Quran 2:23

[Ted · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Clear Quran translation is very obviously sugarcoating the verses the make them more palatable to western audiences.

It is very obvious as well why this is the preferred translation for Muslims in western forums to recommend for non-Muslims as well as the preferred translation chosen by organizations to ship free copies within the US to non-Muslims only.

For example, most translations of 2:223, "Your wives are your tilth; go unto your tilth as you desire, but first provide something for your souls..."

Clear Quran translation of 2:223, "Your wives are like farmland for you, so approach them ⌜consensually⌝ as you please. And send forth something good for yourselves..."


Another example:
Most translations of 4:34, "...As to those women on whose part you fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them, refuse to share their beds, beat them..."

Clear Quran translation 4:34, "...And if you sense ill-conduct from your women, advise them ⌜first⌝, ⌜if they persist⌝, do not share their beds, ⌜but if they still persist,⌝ then discipline them ⌜gently⌝.


As you can see, the tiny brackets indicate that they have added words into the translation that do not correspond to the original.

This translation serves as a ploy to lure in unsuspecting non-Muslims by use of softened translations, inserted words, and extensive introductions and footnotes as to why every other translation is misunderstood and justifying every verse as lacking context.

[Rasha Beydoun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Infinite stars 🤍

Alhamdillah 🙏🏼

[Soumaya Hajji · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished the dramatized translated audios of Surahs Al-'Alaq, Al-Qadr, Al-Bayyinah, Az-Zalzalah, Al-'Adiyat, Al-Qari'ah, At-Takathur, Al-'Asr, Al-Humazah, Al-Fil, Quraysh, Al-Ma'un, Al-Kawthar, Al-Kafirun, An-Nasr, Al-Masad, Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq, and An-Nas. Alhamdulilah.

The Clear Quran Dramatized Audio is a great and helpful way to learn the deeper meaning of the surahs we read and recite.

[Yasmeen Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best translation by far! Lhamdillah 🥹💗🙏🏽

[zainab! · Rating 5 out of 5]

an amazing translation of the quran in simple and easy to understand english! i highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in islam as well as muslims who have read the arabic quran and want to understand. may allah reward us all ameen.

[yummy.xo]

I should’ve tried to finish this in Ramadan I was so close and then I fell off for so long. Anyways.. Feels wrong to rate the Quran bc there is no scale for this of course…. But let me tell you some of my fav surahs overall:
Yusuf - good story
Ar-Room - I always love the historical connections, like mentioning the Romans and talking about them just reminds me of how many hundreds of years it has taken for the Quran to reach ME (SubhanAlllah)
Al-Jinn — VERY interesting insight into the world of Jinn, like they really have their own community amongst us too
At-Takwir - love the descriptions, just a cool surah
Ash-Sharsh - very comforting very hopeful
Al-Asr - short and sweet
An-Naas - mic drop surah and du’a all in 1. Period

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

TAKEAWAYS

[nadija :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best translation of the Qur’an I’ve come across. Recommend this version for anyone interested. Allah Yahdina.

[Colton Koprowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

this shit rocks dude

[Rob · Rating 1 out of 5]

Expected some interesting philosophy but all it does is repeat itself over and over and over again.

[Mariam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A guide for humanity. I set out to listen to the dramatized audiobook for Ramadan and wanted to get a head start. I enjoyed it so much that I finished it much sooner than I had anticipated.

[Rayan Abu-Haija]

In my opinion, this book gets 5 stars. The Quran covers the idea of monotheism, explains different prophecies explores human morality, warns about the Day of Judgment, and heavily focuses on family dynamics. It emphasizes the oneness and absoluteness of god, being infinitely better than everything in every way. It also emphasizes accountability and justice but makes a point about how merciful god is and how with repentance any sin can and will be forgiven. There's not much to review in a traditional sense because it's not a story it's kind of like a set of instructions from god in the words of god using different stories as examples kind of like when your parents lecture you as a kid and use a story to drive a point home or to be like “if you do this, this will happen to you. But not all the stories are like this necessarily like for example in its version of the story of Adam and Eve when god is creating Adam the angels ask him “Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, —while we glorify You with praises and thanks” they are asking if god (Allah) will put mankind on earth to spread bloodshed and mischief knowing that mankind will go against gods decree and asking what's the point if we glorify and obey you no questions asked. God then goes on to make a point that yes while humans do have the capacity for free will and knowledge, while potentially leading to destructive behavior, also grants them great potential for good unlike how the angels are bound to do nothing and have no other interests other than pleasing god and obeying him. By using this specific example I'm trying to say that by creating humans with free will he's encouraging us to go live and discover what would have been otherwise unknown.
I liked that it sounds like god is talking or conversation with the reader and sometimes the use of sarcasm is a bit funny also being a translated version there was a description/explanation at the bottom of every page to rule out any confusion, so the reader had some context and background on the topic that it was covering in that specific sura (chapter). One subject that I particularly liked is the coverage of the point of life specifically in the argument that if god is all-knowing and knows what you're going to do in life and whether you're going to heaven or not why did he create us and why didn't he just send those that are going to heaven, to heaven and those who are going to hell, to hell, from the begging. The concussion that I got was for receipts. If god were to have created you and instantly sent you to hell that would be unfair, and you could ask why I'm going to suffer for all eternity I didn't do anything and what is he going to say “You were if I was to put you on earth you were to be bad” so then you could be like “ok, but we have no proof” so that's why we're all here or one of the reasons. Also, the fact that we do not know our fate rules out any nihilism because as long as you live you can repent which strangely introduces existentialism in the way that you can take any life path or have taken any life path, and your ok as long as you keep god and his rules in mind and apologize when you break them, which is comforting in my opinion. I didn't like anything about it because I'm biased due to being Muslim, although it could get a little hard to read just because of the way it's formatted and because of how different English and Arabic are the translation is sometimes a bit wonky, and it lacks its usual complexity because for it to be translated to English it had to be dumbed down a bit because to how complex Arabic is.
As a final note, this book unlocks something deeply spiritual in the reader if they actually pay attention to it and what it is truly saying for the full experience I highly recommend becoming fluent in Arabic and giving the original a read because that whole other experience.
I give this book five pounds of baked beans out of 32 broken mirrors

[Farouk]

I read this for the month of Ramadan as a part of my ongoing interest in reading and learning about all of the major Abrahamic religions, their respective texts, and the general scholarship around the books and how the various modern religious ideologies that exist today came to be.

It feels inappropriate to give this a star rating/review its contents since it's a historical/cultural/religious text, so this is more of a review of how effective this is as an English translation of the Quran coming from someone who was raised Muslim and speaks Arabic. What I will say is that if you are a person with any interest in reading the Quran but cannot read/speak Arabic, this is a very faithful translation that provides a great amount of context to the stories/words in the Quran by giving readers insight into what was going on at the time culturally/historically and also the various hadiths that are written about throughout history outside of the actual book. There are some elements of the footnotes which are included to provide context where it is less the objective facts of what is said in the Quran and more of the author's personal perspective/interpretation, but that's only some of the time and overall this is still a faithful translation. As long as you also bring in some of your own research/critical thinking to allow yourself to have a more honest and unbiased reading of the book, this is a great translation to pickup for anyone looking to get started in learning about the Quran and its words, ideologies, and history.

[Zelda M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this English translation of the Quran. I loved how readable it was, broken up into sections that made it digestible and easy to understand. I love reading this especially during Ramadan to reflect on the verses.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would like to note that this is a THEMATIC translation so it does not have the word for word Arabic alongside or pronunciation and some of the translations are simplified. It is still an incredible resource for those that do not speak Arabic and are looking for an introduction into the Quran!

[Soraya · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the Name of Allah—the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.

"This is the Book! There is no doubt about it—a guide for those mindful ˹of Allah
who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and donate from what We have provided for them,
and who believe in what has been revealed to you ˹O Prophet˺ and what was revealed before you, and have sure faith in the Hereafter."

"It is they who are ˹truly˺ guided by their Lord, and it is they who will be successful. As for those who persist in disbelief, it is the same whether you warn them or not—they will never believe."

(Surah Al-Baqarah, verses 2-6)

This book answers the questions the soul searches for.
God's direct speech to mankind.

Open your heart, put aside any and all apprehension and "Read, in the Name of your Lord Who created—created humans from a clinging clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who taught by the pen—taught humanity what they knew not." (Surah Al-Alaq, verses 1-5)

- Soraya Mitta

[Naseem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just like its name, this is truly a “clear” Qur’an. I’ve read the Noble Qur’an (Sahih Al Bukhari) twice and would recommend the Clear Qur’an to a revert or anyone struggling with other translations. The Noble Qur’an is still my go to though.

Pros: The Clear Qur’an gives a description of each chapter, at the top of each.
Similar to the Noble Qur’an, it also has footnotes elaborating on certain ayats (verses).

Cons: Some footnotes gave “other possible translations” for its respective ayats. For those I referenced the Noble Qur’an.
It doesn’t have the Arabic version to the side, as this is strictly English. Which might not be a con for some. I just think that it should since we are encouraged to learn the language for recitation, etc.

[Reverend Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coming from a non-Muslim perspective, was not at all what I was expecting…
For one most of the characters from the Bible come back and 90% of it is essentially equally fundamental to Christianity
Little disappointed it wasn’t chronological and the last like 40 verses are so short
Lot of hell fire but also sick descriptions of heaven
Like the part when Jesus is trying to explain to God that he didn’t tell anyone to worship him
Probably something that everyone should read as it really changes one perception of Islam as a whole
Doc Mustafa was cooking with this one 🧑‍🍳🧑‍🍳🧑‍🍳

[ZunairahReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

My goal for the month of Ramadan was to read the Quran and this translation made something intimidating a lot easier. I Learned a lot from this translation and I plan to read it again, it answered a lot of my questions. I initially planned to read it Juz by Juz but found that I was so interested in what I was learning and the context of what I was learning that I typically read 2 juz at a time when I did read it.

[Jannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite version of the English translation of the Qur'an
The language and methodical organisation of themes and verses and also in depth intro for anyone who might be unaware of islam and quran and it's main topics is really insightful and speaks to my need for organisation and charm

[Mahmud Shahriare Atique · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best translation of the Holy Book alongside Abdul Haleem's one. The only reason I am not giving it 5 stars is because there are so many notes, but all of them are at the end of the book, and I had to frequently visit the appendix. The notes should have been on the same pages.

[safin · Rating 5 out of 5]

genuinely a much clearer rendition of the qu'ran, the footnotes being EXTREMELY helpful for pointing out certain contextual clues that have oftentimes been overlooked in arbitrary citations of countless arguments besmirching islam

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I'll probably always have a slight preference for Abdel Haleem's translation since that was the first one I ever read, but I've come to really love this translation too and I can see why it's so popular.

[Ykwii JF · Rating 4 out of 5]

The teachings were comprehensive

[Hajar Loughlam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing subhanallah