Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall

Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall rahimahullah (1875-1936) was born in London to an Anglican clergyman and spent his formative years in rural Suffolk. He was a contemporary of Winston Churchill at Harrow. His extensive travels throughout the Arab world and Turkey allowed him to master Arabic, Turkish, and Urdu, and formed the basis of several novels set in the Middle East. He embraced Islam in 1917 and became a strong advocate of the Ottoman Empire. After his conversion he served as acting imam of the London Mosque in Notting Hill, then spent fifteen years working with Muslims in the Indian subcontinent - serving as editor of the journal Islamic Culture (Hyderabad, India) and as advisor and publisher to the Nizam of Hyderabad. He also served as editor of the Bombay Chronicle and was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi. He wrote and published more than twenty-five books. His most celebrated work is his English translation of the Qur'an, The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'an, composed while in the service of the Nizam of Hyderabad.