Abdullah Yusuf Ali, CBE, MA, LL.M, FRSA, FRSL (; ‎; 14 April 1872 – 10 December 1953) was an Indian-British barrister who wrote a number of books about Islam including an exegesis of the Qur'an. A supporter of the British war effort during World War I, Ali received the CBE in 1917 for his services to that cause. He died in London in 1953. Early life Ali was born in Bombay, British India, the son of Yusuf Ali Allahbuksh (died 1891), also known as Khan Bahadur Yusuf Ali, originally a Shi'i Isma'ili in the Dawoodi Bohra tradition, who later became a Sunni and who turned his back on the traditional business-based occupation of his community and instead became a Government Inspector of Police. On his retirement, he gained the title Khan Bahadur for public service. As a child, Abdullah Yusuf Ali attended the Anjuman Himayat-ul-Islam school and later studied at the missionary school Wilson College, both in Bombay. He also received a religious education and eventually could recite the entire Qur'an from memory. He spoke both Arabic and English fluently. He concentrated his efforts on the Qur'an and studied the Qur'anic commentaries beginning with those written in the early days of Islamic history. Ali took a first class Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature at the University of Bombay in January 1891 aged 19 and was awarded a Presidency of Bombay Scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge in England. Ali first went to Britain in 1891 to study law at St John's College, Cambridge and after graduating BA and LL.B in 1895 he returned to India in the same year with a post in the Indian Civil Service (ICS), later being called to the Bar in Lincoln's Inn in 1896 in absentia. He received his MA and LL.M in 1901. He married Teresa Mary Shalders (1873–1956) at St Peter's Church in Bournemouth in 1900, and with her he had three sons and a daughter: Edris Yusuf Ali (1901–1992), Asghar Bloy Yusuf Ali (1902–1971), Alban Hyder Yusuf Ali (1904–), and Leila Teresa Ali (1906–). His wife and children settled variously in Tunbridge Wells, St Albans and Norwich while Ali returned to his post in India. He returned to Britain in 1905 on a two-year leave from the ICS and during this period he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Society of