Abdullah Yusuf Ali (1872-1953): A Genius Who Translated the Holy Quran into English and Succumbed To Amnesia Wandering In the Snowy Terrain of London
By
Dr. Mohammad Ghitreef, New Age Islam
15 December
2022
Despite
The Fact That Reading Was The First Word Of The Holy Quran To Be Revealed, The
Ummah Of Iqra Has Changed In The Ummah That Does Not Read. This Explains Why
Muslims Forgot About Yousuf Ali So Swiftly
Main
Points:
1. 1-One of the
most popular English translations of Quran is Abdullah Yusuf Ali's translation
with brief commentary. He quickly vanished into obscurity, though.
2. 2-Muslims
are subject to a mobocracy. Scholars and ulama who perform for the public while
singing their favourite songs are frequently remembered.
3. 3-Knowledge
is typically useless in Muslim societies; here, only money matters.
-------
Abdullah
Yusuf Ali (1872-1953)
------
The
best-ever English translation of the holy Quran is that rendered by Yousuf Ali
alias Abdullah Yousuf Ali. It was first published during 1934-1937, with brief
commentary notes. In recent times, the Saudi government appointed a team of
distinguished Ulama and scholars to revise, edit and authenticate the sublime
translation then published and distributed it worldwide. Though some Ulama
still have some reservations about Yusuf Ali's rendition in some places,
nevertheless, without any exaggeration, it is the most prestigious, most
readable, and most beautiful and lucid authentic English translation of the
holy book. It has made a record with 200 editions since Ali first accomplished
it.
Yusuf Ali, it is stated, had spent 40 years on
this project. He first published this translation in 1905 with brief commentary
notes. Besides this translation, Yousuf Ali extensively talked about the
different aspects of Islam and gave many lectures in England and elsewhere. Yet
his perception of Islam was as a spiritual and moral religion. He opposed
political Islam vehemently.
Nevertheless,
it is bizarre that Ali died in 1953, yet our recent annals of history are
totally unaware of him and his life account. Even the Encyclopaedia of Islam
(Urdu) in 24 volumes, published under the patronage of Punjab University
Pakistan, does not mention Ali.
On April 4,
1872, Ali was born to a Daudi Bohra family in Surat. In his later academic
life, he did not mention at any point his Bohra background or its impact on his
life and thoughts. I infer from this that he would have changed his creed when
he became mature enough in consonance with the majority of Muslim opinion.
Because he was a devout Muslim who led prayers in Sunni mosques in the UK, US,
and Canada, served as a trustee for London's principal mosque, and was
instrumental in the construction of Masjid Al-Rasheed in Canada. Ali was also
one of the tall personalities from the subcontinent who were educated in Oxford
or Cambridge and trained at Lincoln Inn, the famous law school in London. Then
played a key role in their respective fields, for instance, sir Mohammad Iqbal,
M.A Jinnah, and Mohammad Ali Jauhar; nonetheless, Ali was also of unique
literary and academic qualities.
Ali was
first instructed at Anjuman Islamia High school Mumbai, then at Wilson College
Mumbai. He got a scholarship for Saint Jackson College of Cambridge University
and passed the Tripos in 1895. Then started studying law at the famous law
school of London, the Lincoln Inn, and became a barrister. In 1896 Ali started
his career in advocacy. Yet, he also appeared in the competitive exams of
I.C.S. or Indian Civil Service. He got 375 marks in Urdu paper out of a total
of 400. Soon abandoning his law career, he joined the service when he was
hardly 24 years old. On June 23, he was first appointed as district magistrate
and collector in the Saharanpur commissionary.
Along with
the duties of the magistrate, he was responsible for collecting taxes from the
farmers, traveling and surveying lands. The journey would be on horseback. This
is why horse riding at those times was included as a subject in the examination
of I.C.S. After two years, his post was transferred to Bareilly.
Aligarh was
not very far away from Bareilly, wherein Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was busy cultivating
M.A.O. College, so Ali came into contact with Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
"In
the last days of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, I was graced to meet him. I still
remember my conversations with him about the revival of Muslims. It was the
beginning of my career; I put my educational ideas with a youthful regur and
zeal before this experienced educationist whose life spanned from the struggle
of independence of 1857 to the period of the Victorian era". wrote Ali.
Apart from being a District magistrate, Ali had been an under secretory and
also a joint secretary in the finance ministry of the Indian government. In
1914 he retired from the civil service and devoted his life to reading and
writing.
Ali also
gave a lecture on the gesture of his mentor: "Indian Mohammadans and their
past and future." He was welcomed by lord Aimbithel who became acting
viceroy of India in 1904 in his royal style. In his welcoming remarks Ali
expressed his loyalty to the British. "Religion or history doesn't prevent
Indian Muslims from becoming dignified citizens of a progressive and liberal
Britain." Ali was as loyal to the British as sir Syed Ahmad Khan, unlike
other Ulama and Muslim intellectuals who were waging a jihad against the
British. He opposed Wahhabism and condemned the murder of the chief justice of
Bengal by Indian revolutionaries in 1917. However, he did not let his
unwavering loyalty to the British stop him from opposing the UN's resolution on
the division of Palestine. He spoke out in favour of the Palestinian cause and
also wrote a lovely poem for Palestine. He also supported that there should be
a progressive religious institution for Indian Muslims. And there must be a
powerful move to the empowerment of Muslim women in India as they were most
backward, contrasting to women of, say, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Algeria, etc. On
his address, Ali was awarded a silver medal by the Royal Society of Arts in
1907. After that, he was called to deliver an address by the famous More Edward
Institute of London. A collection of his addresses and lecturers was published
in 1907 titled "Life and Labour of the People of India."
During the
independence movement, there was a big issue of Hindu-Muslim future relations.
Muslim intelligentsia mostly belonged to Bombay's elite class. All these people
were economically comfortable and politically prominent, and probably in view
of their 'social status, they didn't come into contact with the problems of
Hindu-Muslim understanding or conflict, nor did they realize its importance,
even until thirties M.A. Jinnah considered a separate Muslim constituency an
unnecessary proposal. Representing this intelligentsia's concern Ali expressed
his views. On the one hand, he wondered why Muslims were demanding from the
government that they should be treated with special concessions as a minority
and not under the terms of merit and capability. While on the other he also
hoped that the Hindu majority would stop treating the minorities with bigotry
and arrogance.
Ali lived a
very active and busy public life in both India and England. In 1909 he presided
over the UP industrial conference. In December 1910, he presided over all India
Muslim Educational Conference held in Nagpur, and also, presided over its
conclave held in Kolkata in 1923. He had been a professor of Hindi, Indian religion,
and religions of Sindhu valley at the school of Oriental studies in London. He
also had been an officer of the Indian Committee at Imperial Institute during
those three years.
In
April-May 1918, Ali toured to Denmark, Sweden, and Norway and delivered
lectures on various aspects of Islam. Also, he went to Holland in
October-November 1920 and gave lectures on Islam.
In 1922 he
was a finance minister in Hyderabad Deccan; from 1922 to 1925, he had been
principal of Islamia College Lahore for three years. Moreover, he had been
associated with the law departments of Panjab and Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh and also stood as a member of AMU Court. In 1928 Ali represented India
at the ninth session of the League of Nations. In 1929 Ali was called for by
the National Education Council of Canada to deliver lectures. In the meantime,
he toured to different countries such as America, Algeria, Japan, the
Philippines, China, Salone, and others and gave lectures on Islam.
In 1935 on
the persuasion of Iqbal, Ali accepted the responsibility of the principal of
Islamia College Lahore once again for three years. In 1939 he was called for by
Nizam of Hyderabad to participate in his silver jubilee celebrations.
Family
Life
Yusuf Ali's
family life was not a successful one. He first married Terisa Marrey, a
Christian woman aged 27, on September 18, 1908, in Yarn Mouth when he was 28.
Three children, Idrees, Asghar, and Ilyas Haider, were born to him. Since Ali's
public life was hectic, he could not spare time for his wife and children. As
there was a cultural gap between the couple. That is why not before long, his
wife and children deserted him in India and went back to England; then, both
were separated.
In 1916 Ali
got married to another English woman Gertrude Anne Mauby, who was renamed as
Masooma, and a son was born to him. The tragedy was that this marriage also
became a victim of separation.
He obtained
legal possession of his kids, gave up his job, and moved to London to be with
them. But the youngsters also ridiculed him and destroyed his heart. In his
will from 1940, crestfallen and depressed as he was, he spoke of "the ill
will of these children towards me." Despite the agonising and depressing
episode, he continued with his scholastic achievements and started translating
the holy Quran into English.
Main
Features and Peculiarities of Yusuf Ali's Translation
There are
so many translations done by Muslim or non-Muslim translators. Several
orientalists also translated Quran into English, and other European languages,
such as George Sale , A.J. Arbury and Marmaduke Pikthale et al. And they did
that before Ali. None the less, Ali's translation got fame and unparalleled
acceptance. Its peculiarities are as follows:
1-He made
tremendous efforts to be very near to Arabic words and idioms. While most
often, European translators, in this context, quickly become victims to their
thoughts and far-fetched interpretations.
2- His
commentary notes are very brief and succinct. All unnecessary details and
theological, jurisprudential, and religious discussions have been entirely
avoided in his discourse.
3-He has
given Quranic chapter’s (suras) backgrounds and their subject matter in very
brief, succinct notes.
4- Yusuf
Ali generally mentioned the best of what was narrated by the ancient
commentators and avoided giving his own ideas and comments. However, he didn't
follow them blindly but chose what was nearest to Sharia's spirit.
5-Yousuf
Ali spent so many years on this project he did not rely only on his efforts.
But to solve the complex issues and difficult places, he went to faraway places
and had taken consultations with the expert ulama and scholars of his times.
For that purpose, he travelled to Jamia Azhar of Egypt too.
Sources:
Apart
from the translations and commentaries of the Quran, Ali utilized the following
sources:
1- Al-Qamoosul Muheet by Firouzabadi
2-Lisanul
Arab, the encyclopaedic Arabic dictionary by Ibn Manzoor.
3-Soura:
Persian Arabic dictionary.
4-
Mufradatul Quran by Isfahani’s English version by J.P. Pelerick
A
5-English-Arabic dictionary by Lane.
6-
Dictionary of Islam by Hughes
7-German
translation of Quran by Nodabe Shedy
8-Siratun
Nabi by Shibli Nomani
9-Sirat
Ibn Hisham
10-
Fathur Rehman by Faizullah
11-
Encyclopaedia of Islam
12-
Encyclopaedia of Britannica
Tragic
Death
Yusuf Ali
knew many languages, such as Hindi, Gujrati, Marathi, Telugu, English, Urdu,
Arabic, and Persian. He led a very full and proactive life. A very busy man
indeed. But the last years of his life were not good. The unfaithfulness of
both his wives and his children broke his heart. The result was that this man
of great intellectual abilities succumbed to amnesia. Wandering in the snowy
regions became his fate. People and the world around him forgot him. In this
fit, he silently passed away from this world. M.A. Sherif, who latterly wrote a
book on him, namely: Searching for Solace, wrote:
"Sixty years ago, on December 10, 1953,
few in the Muslim world noticed a minor tragedy unfolding in London. The
previous day, a sick man was found sitting on the steps of a house in London on
a bitterly cold British winter day and was taken to hospital by police.
On this day, a man whose name was already
known around the Muslim world died a pauper's death without even a companion by
his side. British authorities contacted the Pakistani High Commission in London
to arrange his funeral and burial. "
What could
be a better sign of the immobilised Muslim intellect, its inertia,
indifference, incompetence than the fact that Muslim-owned publications were
only able to cover the headlines of Yusuf Ali's passing away? While he had been
extensively covered in articles in the Daily Telegraph and Times of London. How
many of Ali's contemporaries were far less knowledgeable and skilled than he
was. Despite the fact that we have entire books on them, Yusuf Ali received
zero attention from modern Muslim history.
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Dr.
Mohammad Ghitreef is a Research Associate with the Centre for Promotion of
Educational and Cultural Advancement of Muslims of India, AMU Aligarh.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/yusuf-ali-holy-quran-amnesia-london/d/128634
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