Dr. Thomas Ballantyne Irving was once a fixture at Muslim conventions. This author, professor, and the first translator of the Qur’an in American English passed away on Sept. 24 in his Mississippi home. He had embraced Islam over 50 years ago and became Al-Haj Ta’lim Ali Abu Nasr. Dr. Irving had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Few Muslim publications or media know about his death or published anything about his condition while he was sick. We need to remember our scholars. We need to be there for them with our concern, our dua and our good wishes, especially in the last moments of their lives.
The state of this translator of the Qur’an can remind us of Yusuf Ali, another Muslim whose English translation of the Qur’an earned him world fame.
Yusuf Ali did not need money to take care of himself. But when he passed away on a cold London night about 50 years ago, he was sick and alone. The Muslim community only came to know later about his death.
Born in Preston, Ontario in 1914, Dr. Irving, a professor, writer, translator and activist is best known for his translation of the Qur’an entitled, The Qur’an: First American Version (1985). The work is an attempt to make the English translation of the Qur’an more readable by people not used to the old style of English common in most translations.
Irving was particularly concerned about making the Qur’an accessible to Muslim youth in North America. "A new generation of English-speaking Muslims has grown up in North America which must use our scripture differently than their fathers would have done. Their thinking roots have become distinct on a new continent without the familiar use of our holy tongue, and a great difference has developed between their customs and their ancestral faith," he wrote in the introduction of his translation, entitled, "The Qur’an: The Noble Reading".
The cover of the 1993 edition of this translation features a photograph of the dome of the Great Umayyad Mosque of Cordoba, Spain. This provides a hint at another passion of his: Muslim Spain.
Irving was considered a leading expert on the Arab-Islamic period in Spanish history, especially with his book Falcon of Spain. This was a study of Spain under Muslim rule, with a special emphasis on the Umayyad ruler "Abdur Rahman I", who Irving considered a "great statesman".
Irving’s other books in English include: Growing up in Islam; The Qur’an: Basic Teachings, which he co-authored with Dr. Khurshid Ahmad and Muhammad Manazir Ahsan; Had You Been Born a Muslim; Religion and Social Responsibility; Tide of Islam; Islam Resurgent; Islam in its Essence; Polished Jade; Stories of Kalila and Dimna; The Mayas Own Words, as well as various articles on Central American Literature.
In Spanish, Irving wrote Cautiverio Babilonico en Andalusia, Nacido como Musulman, and El Poema de José. In addition, he wrote a number of other articles and essays published in various journals.
Irving learned and taught in various universities across the continent, including McGill University in Montreal, Canada, Princeton University in New Jersey, University of San Carlos in Guatemala, University of Minneapolis, and the University of Tennessee, from where he retired as a professor of Spanish and Arabic in 1980.
Following retirement, he served as the dean of the American Islamic College in Chicago between 1981-1986. It was during his time there that he published his translation of the Qur’an. His service to Islam as a writer was noticed by the Pakistani government, who conferred on him the Sitara-e-Imtiaz award (Star of Excellence) for service to Islam in 1983.
Dr. Irving’s Last Years: Irving’s son, Nicholas, moved from Guatemala to take care of his father. While Dr. Irving did not need monetary or medical help, he would have appreciated hearing from Muslims, especially those who benefited from his work as a writer and scholar.
Although he could not talk and could only eat with the help of a feeding machine, he was conscious. May Allah forgive him and grant him Paradise for his contribution to humanity. (Islamweb)
