Maulvi Sher Ali

Maulvi Sher Ali Ranjha (Bhera, Sargodha District, Pakistan (24 November 1875 – 13 November 1947) Lahore, Pakistan. was a prominent Ahmadi Muslim scholar and a companion of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam. He is most famous for one of the earliest groundbreaking English translations of the Holy Quran: The Holy Quran - Arabic Text and English translation.

Early life

Sher Ali was born to a well off and educated Zamindar family that was part of the Ranjha Jat tribe. He was the son of Maulvi Nizam ud Din. His mother died on 7 March 1907. A daughter of Sher Ali, with the name Khadija Beguum wrote his short biography Seerat Hadrat Maulvi Sher Ali. Sher Ali did his B.A. in 1897.

Works

When heard of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's claim he travelled to Qadian and gave his Bay'ah (Oath of Allegiance) at the hands of Ghulam Ahmad. He remained headmaster of the Talim-ul-Islam High School in Qadian. He spent his whole life in the service of the cause of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He accompanied Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, the second khalifa of the movemnet on his journey to Europe in 1924, and participated in the Wembley’s Conference of Living Religions 1924. He was a profound scholar of Islamic sciences and the Arabic language. While a missionary in the Fazl Mosque, London (UK), he completed the English translation of the Holy Quran entitled The Holy Quran - Arabic Text and English translation. In 1942, when Hadrat Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad Khalifatul Masih II appointed a Board of Editors to prepare the 5 Volumes English Commentary Maulvi Sher Ali was one of the editors, besides Mirza Bashir Ahmad and Malik Ghulam Farid.

Maulvi Sher Ali had been editor of the monthly Review of Religions for some years. In the central Organization of the Community, Maulvi Sher Ali served as director of publications (Nazir Taleef) at Qadian. He also published an exposition and rebuttal of the book Yana bi'ul Islam in his Review of Religions.

Death

His wife died on 12 July 1942 and Sher Ali died on 13 November 1947 at Lahore. He was buried at the Bahishti Maqbara (The Heavenly Graveyard) at Rabwah.