I haven’t been able to get a link or confirm the veracity of this story. If it is accurate please pass it on..
AILING QUR’AN SCHOLAR T.B. IRVING: AN UNKNOWN CANADIAN?
[By Abdul Malik Mujahid – Dawn]
Where is T.B. Irving? Have you wondered what happened to this renowned scholar?
Canadian-born Dr. Irving was once a fixture at Muslim
conventions. The author and professor who accepted Islam more than 50 years ago
and produced the first American English translation of the Qur’an is,
Alhamdulillah, still alive, although in very frail health.
Dr. Irving is suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s disease and is living under
constant nursing care in Mississippi. But no Muslim newspaper has published
anything recently about his condition or even mentioned whether he is alive or
not. We need to remember our elder scholars. We need to be there for them with
our concern, our Dua, and
our good wishes, especially at the time when they prepare to leave this life.
The current state of Dr. Irving reminds me of the late Yusuf Ali, another
Muslim whose translation of the Qur’an into English is world renowned. Like Dr.
Irving, Yusuf Ali did not lack money to support
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
about his death later.
It was “stubborness” that eventually led the Canadian Qur’an translator and
writer Thomas Ballantyne (T.B.) Irving to Islam.
“I remember especially a missionary returned from India stating how the
‘Mohometans’ (Muslims) were so obdurate in adhering to their religion; that was
my first encounter with Islam, and it roused an
unconscious admiration in me for their steadfastness to their faith and a
desire to know more about these ‘wicked’ people,” he recounted
in the book “Islam: Our Choice,” a collection of interviews with Muslims who
have converted to the faith. T.B. Irving later became one of these “obdurate”
people, choosing the name Al Hajj Ta’lim Ali Abu Nasr.
Born in 1914 in the village of Preston, Ontario [amalgamated into the City of
Cambridge in 1973] this professor, writer, translator and activist is best
known for his translation of the Qur’an entitled, “The Qur’an: First American
Version” (1985). His work is an attempt to provide an English version that is
more accessible to an audience not used to the old style of English common in
most translations. Dr. Irving was particularly concerned about making the
Qur’an accessible to Muslim youth throughout 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 writes in the introduction of his translation.
The cover of the 1993 edition of the Quran translation features a photograph of
the dome of the Great Umayyad Mosque of Cordoba, Spain.
This provided 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,” a study of Spain under
Muslim rule, with a special emphasis on the Umayyad ruler AbdurRahman I, whom
Irving considered a “great statesman.”
Irving’s other books 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,” and “Tide of Islam.”
His academic and teaching career includes McGill University in Montreal,
Canada; Princeton University in New Jersey; the University of San Carlos in
Guatemala; University of Minneapolis; and finally, the University of Tennesse,
from which he retired as a professor of Spanish and Arabic in 1980.
Following retirement, he served as Dean of the American Islamic College in
Chicago. It was during his time there (1981-1986) that he published his
translation of the Qur’an.
His service to Islam as a writer was noticed by the Pakistani government, which
in 1983 awarded him the Stara-e- Imtiaz for service to Islam in 1983.
Recently Dr. Irving’s son, Nicholas, moved from Guatemala to take care of his
ailing father. While Dr. Irving is not in need of monetary or medical help, he
could definitely benefit from hearing from you, especially if you have
benefitted from his work as a writer and scholar.
Although he cannot talk and he can only eat with the help of a feeding machine,
he is conscious. He still receives mail. In these latter days of his life, he
is in need of your prayers, your letters, your wishes
of concern, and your thanks for his service to Islam. When I stood next to his
bed, I felt each time I said “shahadah,” he moved as though trying to respond
to it.
Dr. Irving today needs your Duas and thanks. You can write to him at the
following address: Dr. T. B. Irving, 3721 Mercier Drive, Pascagula, MS USA
3958