The Ascendant Qur'an:
Realigning Man to the Divine Power Culture

The first tafseer written in the English language

Imam Muhammad al-Asi, of Washington DC, is one of the senior members of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT). For over 10 years, he has been working on a new tafseer of the Qur'an. This has been serialised in Crescent International since 1998.

The first volume of this tafseer, called The Ascendant Qur'an: Realigning Man to the Divine Power Culture, was published by the ICIT in May 2008. It is the first tafseer ever to be written in the English language. It is also the first tafseer to be written specifically to reinterpret the lesssons of the noble Qur'an for the needs of Muslims living in the 21st century, and particularly for those active in the contemporary Islamic movement.

In an interview for Crescent International (June 2008) on the occasion of the launch of the Ascendant Qur'an, Imam al-Asi emphasised two particular elements of his work: first, that by writing directly in English, now the most widely spoken language of the Muslim world, he wanted to ensure that the full meaning of the ayaat of the Qur'an is conveyed in his tafseer; and second, that he has highlighted elements of the Qur'an that are often missing from other tafseers, such as the dimensions of power and authority, which are particularly relevant to the struggle of the contemporary Islamic movement.

Zafar Bangash, the Director of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought, highlighted similar points in an article on The Ascendant Qur'an in Crescent International the previous month, when he said: