was translated into Arabic in 2006, Mrs. Samina Malik asked the late Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, Dr. Muhammad Sayed Tantawi, to review the manuscript and write a Foreword for its publication in Arabic. He reviewed the manuscript for four months and then prepared a Foreword, which is incorporated in this edition. In his Foreword, he praises the book and commends Maulana Muhammad Ali for his dedicated service to Islam. The high esteem in which Sheikh Tantawi held Maulana Muhammad Ali and The Religion of Islam can be evidenced by the fact that he would quote from it in important matters. In his widespread rebuttal to a statement made by Pope Benedict XVI about Islam, Sheikh Tantawi quotes from The Religion of Islam and directs the reader to the relevant chapter in the book for more information about the tolerant and peaceful nature of the faith.
The Religion of Islam has been translated into German, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Indonesian, Urdu, and Turkish, and translations into other major languages, such as French and Spanish are currently in process. It is also now available in widely accessible E-book format.
In this edition, the entire book has been reformatted and re-typeset. Verses of the Quran found within the text have also been thoroughly checked and revised accordingly. In addition, some changes in terminology have been made in this edition. In the first edition of this work, the honorific title Holy preceded the words Quran and Prophet (when referring to the Prophet Muhammad), so that the text read Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet. In subsequent editions, published after Maulana Muhammad Ali’s demise, the honorific title Holy was deleted to reduce redundancy. In this 2012 edition, the honorific title Holy is reinstated, as it was deemed appropriate to maintain the original, distinctive features of the author’s work. Likewise, Arabic words such as Ḥadith and Ijtihad present in the first edition were replaced in later editions by their English translations (Tradition and Exercise of Judgment respectively). As these Arabic words have now become quite common, the original Arabic words present in the first edition are included in this edition.
This 2012 edition is the result of sacrifices from many dedicated volunteers. Proofreading of this volume was a challenging task, and special mention must be made of Mrs Naseera Ahmad who