Mushkilat-ul-Quran By Allama Anwar Shah Kashmiri

Mushkilat-ul-Quran is predominantly in Arabic, but passages in the Farsi language also appears throughout the work. The main objective of undertaking to write this book was to interpret only those verses of the Holy Quran which are generally considered to be difficult to understand. Thus, while analyzing these verses, Allama Kashmiri began by first discussing the opinion on some of the notable Mufassirin and thereafter he gives his view. Allama Kashmiri believed that a proper commentary of the Holy Quran could best be done in the light of Asbab al-Nuzul. Knowing the causes for the revelation of the verses would assist the Mufassir to be in a position te relate the Quranic verses to contemporary time. A special feature of this particular work is that the author has, in addition, set aside 190 verses which, in his opinion, required further discussion and repeated consideration.

Mushkilat-ul-Quran was published after Allama Kashmiri’s demise by Majlis-e-Ilmi in Dhabel. The 228-page book was later republished by one of the Allama Kashmiri’s renowned students, namely, Maulana Muhammad Yusuf Binuri with a 38-page introduction. In his introduction, Maulana Binuri touches briefly upon Allama Kashmiri’s life and his involvement in the study of the Holy Quran and discusses all the sciences that are somehow related to the Holy Quran. He also touches upon the conditions that qualify a person to write a commentary on the Holy Quran. This edition was published by Majlis-e-Ilmi in Delhi, and was printed by Jamal Press in 1937.

The second edition of this book made its appearance in 1996 and was published by Majlis-e-Ilmi in Karachi and this edition comprises of 448 pages.