Abdullah Yusuf Ali
| Abdullah Yusuf Ali | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
14 April 1872 Bombay, British India |
| Died | 10 December 1953 (aged 81) St Stephen’s Hospital in Fulham, London |
| Occupation | Muslim scholar |
Abdullah Yusuf Ali (Urdu: عبداللہ یوسف علی), CBE, MA, LL.M, FRSA, FRSL (/ɑːˈliː/; 14 April 1872 – 10 December 1953) was a British-Indian barrister and scholar who wrote a number of books about Islam and whose translation of the Qur'an into English is one of the most widely known and used in the English-speaking world. A supporter of the British war effort during World War I, Ali received the CBE in 1917 for his services to that cause. Following two unhappy marriages his children turned against him and he died destitute and alone in London in 1953.
Ali was born in Bombay, British India, the son of Yusuf Ali Allahbuksh (died 1891), also known as Khan Bahadur Yusuf Ali, a Shi'i in the Dawoodi Bohra tradition, who turned his back on the traditional business-based occupation of his community and instead became a Government Inspector of Police. On his retirement he gained the title Khan Bahadur for public service. As a child Abdullah Yusuf Ali attended the Anjuman Himayat-ul-Islam school and later studied at the missionary school Wilson College, both in Bombay. He also received a religious education and eventually could recite the entire Qur'an from memory. He spoke both Arabic and English fluently. 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. Ali took a first class Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature at the University of Bombay in January 1891 aged 19 and was awarded a Presidency of Bombay Scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge in England.
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