Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Infobox Celebrity
name = Abdullah Yusuf Ali


caption =
birth_date = 14 April, 1872
birth_place = Bombay, India
death_date = 10 December, 1953
death_place = Brookwood, Surrey
occupation = Muslim scholar

Hafiz Abdullah Yusuf Ali (14 April 1872 - 10 December 1953) was a South Asian Islamic scholar who translated the Qur'an into English. [ [http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/bmh/BMH-IRO-famous_muslims.htm Famous London Muslims ] ] His translation of the Qur'an ranks alongside the translation of Marmaduke Pickthall as the most widely-known and used in the world Fact|date=June 2008.

Ali was born in Bombay, India to a wealthy merchant family with a Dawoodi Bohra father. 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 studied at several European universities, including the University of Leeds. He concentrated his efforts on the Qur'an and studied the Qur'anic commentaries beginning with those written in the early days of Islamic history. Yusuf Ali's best-known work is his book "", begun in 1934 and published in 1938 by Sh. Muhammad Ashraf Publishers Lahore in India (later Pakistan). While on tour to promote his translation, Ali helped to open the Al-Rashid Mosque, the first mosque in North America, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, in December 1938. [ [http://muslim-canada.org/alrashidmosque.html Al Rashid Mosque in Edmonton ] ] [ [http://www.alrashidonline.com/history.php Canadian Islam Centre - History] ]

Ali was an outspoken supporter of the Indian contribution to the Allied effort in World War I. [ [http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/bmh/BMH-IRO-famous_muslims.htm Famous London Muslims ] ] 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 again went to England where he died in London.

He is buried in England at the Muslim cemetery at Brookwood, Surrey, near Woking, not far from the burial place of Pickthall.

Modern editions of his work remain in print, but with modifications such as "God" altered to "Allah" and with controversial modifications of the opinions that Ali expressed in footnotes and of 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. Wikisource is using a "modern edition" with the name of Allah for God.

Preface to First Edition, Lahore 4th April, 1934

References

ee also

Online Quran Project

External links

*
* [http://quran-online.net Online Quran Project] includes the translation of Abdullah Yusuf Ali.
* [http://www.afkar.com/yusuf.html A biography of Abdullah Yusuf Ali]
* [http://www.renaissance.com.pk/jabore96.html Biography of Abdullah Yusuf Ali]
* [http://www.thegodisone.com/koran.pdf The Meaning of The Holy Qur'an]