A Note From London
Ishtiaq Ahmed
Islamabad: Abdullah Yusuf Ali CBE (1872–1953) is best remembered for his acclaimed English translation and commentary on the Holy Qur’an, widely regarded as one of the most authoritative and enduring interpretations of the sacred text in the English language.
His work continues to be read and distributed across the globe. Yet, beyond this monumental contribution, little is widely known about the remarkable life, character, and accomplishments of this towering intellectual.
Born in Bombay (now Mumbai) during British rule, Yusuf Ali came from a well-established Indian Muslim family. He began his early education at the Anjuman Himayat-ul-Islam School, followed by the Christian missionary run Wilson College, both in Bombay.
He graduated with first-class honours in English Literature from the University of Bombay. A gifted linguist, he was fluent in both Arabic and English, and his early academic pursuits focused on Qur’anic exegesis and classical Islamic scholarship.
At the age of 19, in 1891, he won a scholarship to study law at St John’s College, University of Cambridge. He completed his BA and LL.B in 1895 and returned to India to join the Indian Civil Service (ICS). The following year, he was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn, the same institution where Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the future founder of Pakistan, would qualify from as a barrister. Yusuf Ali would later go on to earn an MA and LL.M by 1901.
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In 1900, Yusuf Ali married Teresa Mary Shalders at St Peter’s Church in Bournemouth. The couple had four children: three sons: Edris, Asghar , and Alban and a daughter, Leila Teresa. While his family lived in England (variously in Tunbridge Wells and St Albans), Yusuf Ali continued his civil service duties in India. During a two-year sabbatical in Britain in 1905, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
His close friendship with Lord James Meston, the then Finance Member of the Government of India, proved instrumental in Yusuf Ali’s professional rise. He was appointed Acting Under Secretary in 1907 and Deputy Secretary in 1911 in the Finance Department.
Eventually, he resigned from the ICS and returned to Britain, where he served as a trustee of the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking and, in 1921, became a founding trustee for the East London Mosque fund.
During World War I, despite widespread unease among Muslims about supporting Britain against the Ottoman Empire, Yusuf Ali took a different stance. He vocally supported India’s contribution to the British war effort, delivering lectures, writing extensively, and touring Scandinavia to rally support. For these efforts, he was awarded the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1917. That same year, he began teaching at the School of Oriental Studies in London.
In 1920, he married his second wife, Gertrude Anne Mawbey, who embraced Islam and took the name Mausuma. They returned to India due to tensions with his children from his first marriage. Unfortunately, this second union also ended in separation.
A respected figure in academic and intellectual circles, Yusuf Ali was invited by Allama Iqbal, the national poet of Pakistan, to serve as Principal of Islamia College, Lahore, a post he held from 1925 to 1927 and again from 1935 to 1937. He also served as a Fellow and Syndic of the University of the Punjab and participated in the University’s Enquiry Committee.
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Among his many notable works are Muslim Educational Ideals (1923), Fundamentals of Islam (1929), Moral Education: Aims and Methods (1930), Personality of Man in Islam (1931), and The Message of Islam (1940). Yet, his most enduring legacy remains his English translation of the Qur’an—one of the two most widely referenced versions, the other being by Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall
The Tragic End of a Visionary
After the independence of India and Pakistan, Yusuf Ali attempted to reintegrate into Indian society but found little success. Disheartened and increasingly frail, he returned to Britain, where he slowly faded into obscurity. Isolated from his family and largely forgotten by the very establishment he had once served.
He spent his final years living in lodgings at the National Liberal Club or wandering the streets of London in poverty despite having over £20,000 in the bank, a considerable sum at the time.
On December 9, 1953, he was found destitute and confused in a doorway in Westminster. He was taken to Westminster Hospital by police but discharged the next day, and moved to a London County Council home for the elderly in Chelsea.
The following day, he suffered a heart attack and passed away at St Stephen’s Hospital in Fulham. He died alone.
No relatives came forward to claim his body. However, the Pakistan High Commission, aware of his significance, arranged his funeral and burial at the Muslim section of Brookwood Cemetery near Woking.
There, not far from his grave, lies another renowned Qur’anic translator, Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall. These two great minds of Islamic scholarship now rest side by side, united in their service to the Muslim.
A Personal Reflection
I was blessed with the opportunity to visit the final resting place of these two noble figures resting in unadorned graves, free of ostentation, silently bearing witness to the enduring legacy of their contributions to the ummah.
Lest We Forget.
The article is the writer’s opinion, it may or may not adhere to the organization’s editorial policy.
The author is a British citizen of Pakistani origin with a keen interest in Pakistani and international affairs.
