Quran in Kashmiri and beyond: A journey of faith through local languages

For centuries, Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir have recited the Quran in classical Arabic. But understanding every Verse of the divine text in one’s own mother tongue has remained an aspiration for many ordinary believers – from Gujjar shepherds in the Pir Panjal to Balti farmers in Ladakh.

Today, complete or partial translations now exist in at least ten languages spoken in Jammu & Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Ladakh, and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. They include Kashmiri, Shina, Gojri, Pahadi, Dogri, Burushaski, Balti, Ladakhi (Bhoti), Hindko and Wakhi.

Yet many more languages – such as Sarazi, Bhaderwah, Kishtwari and several Dardic dialects – still lack a full translation. Scholars and community leaders say the work is far from over.

Muslims believe the Quran is the verbatim word of God revealed in Arabic. Most classical jurists held that prayers must be recited in the original. But over time, translations were accepted as aids to understanding – not replacements for the sacred Arabic.

In South Asia, a breakthrough came in the 18th century when Shah Waliullah Dehlawi produced a Persian translation, followed by Urdu versions by his sons. These works opened the door for vernacular renditions across the subcontinent.

In Kashmir, Islam spread mainly through Sufi missionaries in the 14th century, especially Mir Syed Ali Hamdani. Today, about 97 percent of the Kashmir Valley’s population is Muslim, and significant Muslim communities live in Jammu, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan and Parim Kashmir.

For communities whose everyday language differs significantly from classical Arabic, a translation in the mother tongue carries an intimacy, accessibility, and spiritual immediacy that no other medium can replicate.

Jammu and Kashmir is one of the most linguistically diverse regions in the world, with languages from the Indo-Aryan, Dardic, and Sino-Tibetan families, along with the isolate Burushaski.

Indo-Aryan languages such as Pahadi, Gojri, Hindko, and Dogri are widely spoken across Jammu and adjoining regions, while Kashmiri, a Dardic language, dominates the Kashmir Valley and Chenab Valley.

Other Dardic languages include Shina and Khowar, spoken in high-altitude areas from Gilgit to Gurez and Drass. The Sino-Tibetan group is represented by Balti, Purigi and Ladakhi (Bhoti).

The Quran in Kashmiri

Kashmiri, or Koshur, is a Dardic language spoken mainly in the Kashmir Valley and shared by both Pandit and Muslim communities.

With a literary tradition dating back to the 14th century—most notably in the poetry of Lal Ded and Sheikh Nooruddin Noorani—it is written in the Perso-Arabic Nastaliq script and has a rich body of Sufi and folk literature.

The earliest known attempt to translate the Quran into Kashmiri was by Maulana Muhammad Nuruddin Qari Kashmiri, who published a translation of Juz’ Amma in 1927, marking a pioneering step in making the text accessible to Kashmiri speakers.

But the first complete Kashmiri translation with commentary (tafsir) was Bayan ul Furkan, published in 1957 by Mirwaiz Allama Yusuf Shah, a revered religious leader of the valley. The work remains a landmark of Kashmiri Islamic literature.

Kashmiri translations of the Holy Quran also include the work of Ghulam Nabi Tak, also known as “Naazir,” one of Kashmir’s foremost literary critics and poets.

His Kashmiri translation of the Quran, along with exegesis, was published in 1998, making it one of the earliest significant efforts in this field.

Tak is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Sahitiya Academy Award for Kashmiri. His translation was published in 1998 by Islam International Publications Limited, London.

Another important contribution is by Gulzar Ahmad Parray, who completed a Kashmiri translation of the Quran in 2024-25 after 42 years of sustained effort.

In addition, Athar Manigami translated Tafhim-ul-Quran into the Kashmiri language, making its interpretation accessible to Kashmiri readers. The translation is featured in a 2-volume set.

Sheikh Nooruddin Noorani’s Koshur Quran:- The sayings (kalam) of the fourteenth-century Kashmiri mystic Sheikh Nooruddin Noorani, came to be venerated as the Koshur Quran, that is, “the Quran in the Kashmiri Language.”

As Mohammad Ashraf Wani writes in Islam in Kashmir, Sheikh Nooruddin’s utterances were accorded the same status in the Kashmiri devotional imagination as Rumi’s Masnavi in Persia, which was famously described as hast Quran dar zaban-i Pahlawi— “the Quran in the Persian language.”

This recognition speaks to the depth with which the Quranic spirit was internalised within the Kashmiri poetic tradition, where the vernacular mystic became the vessel of the divine word.

The Quran in Shina

Shina – spoken in Gilgit, Gurez and Drass has at least three translations. Alhaj Shah Mir of Gilgit published a complete Shina Quran in 2018.

Two other scholars – Najmul Hassan and Mustafa Jamil of Gurez – have completed translations that remain unpublished.

Though historically lacking a standardised script, Shina, now written in a modified Perso-Arabic script, is increasingly being documented by linguists.

The Quran in Gojri

Gojri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Gujjar and Bakarwal communities, pastoral groups spread across the Pir Panjal, Kashmir valley, Chenab Valley, parts of Himachal Pradesh, and beyond.

Efforts to translate the Quran into Gojri faced early challenges, with several incomplete attempts by Abdul Haleem Hazarvi, Molvi Mohammad Ismail Zabih, and Molvi Faqir Mohammad Chechi.

One of the first successful translations was by Molvi Abdul Raheem Nadeem (c. 1970), preserved by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages.

A later translation was completed by Dr Mohammad Amin Madni in 1999. He titled his work al-Tawzih Wal Bayan ul Aayat ul Quran.

The first full translation with commentary, Faiz al-Mannan (2004) by Mufti Faiz-ul-Waheed, remains a major contribution, making the Quran accessible to Gojri-speaking communities.

The Quran in Pahadi

Pahadi is a broad term for a group of closely related Indo-Aryan dialects spoken across the hills of Jammu, the Pir Panjal foothills and Pakistan’s Pothohar Plateau.

Despite having millions of speakers, it has received less institutional recognition than languages like Kashmiri or Dogri.

A notable Quran translation in Pahadi-Potohari was completed by Mufti Shafiqul Rahman Khan Qasmi and published in 2011 by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages.

Scholars such as Fazal Hussain Awan and Maulana Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din have also contributed translations, reflecting the shared linguistic and cultural space across the region.

In 2021, Raja Sharif Shad of Gujjar Khan (Punjab) completed a translation of the Holy Quran into his native Potohari language, a work that took him four and a half years to finish.

The Quran in Dogri

Dogri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken primarily in the Jammu region and its surrounding districts, as well as in parts of Himachal Pradesh. It is the language of the Dogra people.

While Dogri speakers are predominantly Hindu, there are Muslim Dogri-speaking communities for whom a vernacular Quran translation holds deep spiritual significance.

Dogri got its first complete Quran translation only in December 2019. Titled Pavitr Quran, it was done by Azra Choudhary, a former chief editor at the same academy.

The Quran in Hindko

Hindko is a north-western Indo-Aryan language, closely related to Punjabi and Potohari, spoken mainly in the Hazara division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, parts of Punjab, and some communities in Jammu and Kashmir.

Notable Quran translators in Hindko include Haji Sardar Ali Khan and Professor Sahibzada Saeed-ur-Rehman, whose works have helped make the Holy Book accessible to Hindko-speaking communities.

The Quran in Burushaski

Burushaski — a language isolate, is spoken by the Burusho people, primarily in the Hunza, Nager, and Yasin valleys of Gilgit Baltistan. Its speakers are almost entirely Muslim, and the language carries a rich oral tradition of poetry and historical narrative.

Burushaski – received its first translation of Quran in 2007 from Alijah Alwaiz Ghulam Uddin Ghulam Hunzai. Given the language’s complexity, this was a scholarly achievement of the highest order

The Quran in Balti

Balti is a Tibetic language spoken by the Balti people of the Baltistan region of Gilgit Baltistan and in parts of Ladakh.

The language retains many archaic features of classical Tibetan and is written in a modified form of the Tibetan script, though the Perso-Arabic script has also been used.

The first complete translation of the Quran into Balti was accomplished by the renowned historian and scholar Yousuf Hussainabadi, who completed this monumental work in 1995. The translation was rendered using the Persian-Arabic script.

The Quran in Ladakhi (Bhoti)

Ladakhi (Bhoti) – the main language of Leh district – is still awaiting completion. A translation project has been underway since 2019 under the guidance of Mohammad Umar Nadvi of Imamia Jama Masjid, Leh, with support from Buddhist monk Venerable Konchok Paldan – a rare example of interfaith cooperation.

The Quran in Wakhi

Wakhi, an Eastern Iranian language spoken in Hunza’s Gojal valley and across borders into Afghanistan, China and Tajikistan, saw its first complete translation by Fazal Amin Beg in 2025, a visually challenged PhD scholar from Gulmit. Another Wakhi translation by Karim Khan Saka was completed in July 2025.

The translations surveyed in this article reflect a remarkable tradition of linguistic devotion spanning nearly a century—from Maulana Muhammad Nuruddin Qari Kashmiri’s early work in 1927 to recent efforts like the Wakhi translations of 2025.

Yet important gaps remain. Several languages and dialects—such as Khowar, Kishtwari, and many Dardic and Pahari varieties—still lack Quranic translations.

Speakers of these languages continue to rely on Arabic recitation or Urdu commentary, which, while valuable, cannot fully replace the intimacy of one’s native language.

There is therefore a clear need for coordinated efforts by religious institutions, cultural bodies, and academic organisations to support and expand translation work.

Institutions like the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, along with counterparts in neighbouring regions, have a vital role to play.

Ultimately, translating the Quran into regional languages is an act of affirmation—of linguistic diversity, cultural identity, and the belief that its message belongs equally to all.