Abdullah Yusuf Ali
Abdullah Yusuf Ali (
14 April 1872 -
10 December 1953) was an
Islamic scholar who translated the
Qur'an into
English. His
translation of the Qur'an ranks alongside the translation of
Marmaduke Pickthall as the most widely-known and used in the world.
Ali was born in
Bombay,
India to a wealthy merchant family. As a child, Ali received a religious education and, eventually, could recite the entire
Qur'an from memory. He spoke both
Arabic and English fluently. He studied
English literature and visited several
European countries as a student. He concentrated his efforts on the Qur'an and studied the Qur'anic commentaries beginning with those written in early days of
Islamic history. Yusuf Ali's well-known work was his book
The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary, published in 1934.
Ali was an outspoken supporter of the Indian contribution to the
Allied effort in
World War I. He was a respected intellectual in India and Sir
Muhammad Iqbal recruited him to be the principal of
Islamia College in
Lahore,
Pakistan. Later in life, he went to
England.
He is buried in England at the
Muslim cemetery at
Brookwood,
Surrey, near
Woking, near the burial place of Pickthall.
Modern editions of his work remain in print, with modifications in his diction and, more controversially, in the opinions that Ali expressed in footnotes and short historical articles that were included with the original text. For instance, Ali's liberal views on credit and
interest do not appear in some editions, as they are considered to run contrary to some schools of Islamic economic thought.
*
Free ebook of Abdullah Yusuf Ali at
Project Gutenberg*
A biography of Abdullah Yusuf Ali*
Biography of Abdullah Yusuf Ali
