Abdassamad Clarke is a scholar, author and commentator from Ulster and was formally educated at Edinburgh University in Mathematics and Physics, and in Cairo in Arabic and tajwid and other Islamic sciences. He accepted Islam at the hands of Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi in 1973. In the 80s he was secretary to the Imam of the Dublin Mosque Shaykh Yahya Muhammad al-Hussein, and he has been imam khatib of the Norwich Mosque, from 1991-1993 and from 2002 until the present.

In Dublin, he wrote as a freelance journalist for the the Irish Times, Irish Press and Sunday Press writing on Islam, the Middle East and other issues, for The Phoenix which published his satire on Salman Rushdie and an article on Mary Robinson, the then President of Ireland, and her links to the Tri-Lateral Commission, for Common Ground to which he contributed a series of articles on banking, usury, and their history and alternative currencies, and for The Aisling to which he contributed an article on Ivan Illich.

Since then he has continued to write longer and shorter pieces on contemporary issues, and his writings are published regularly on-line at the Muslims of Norwich, the Norwich Conference Network, the Open Trade Network and his own blog and he continues to contribute shorter posts regularly online through a variety of social media including Facebook.

Translations

In collaboration with Jakob Werdelin, Abdassamad and his wife Suád Østergaard completed the translation of some suras of the the Qur’an into Danish, the first volume of which comprising Surat al-Fatihah, Surat al-Baqarah and Surah Ali ‘Imran, was published as Den gavmilde Qur’an: en fremlægning of de tre første suraer by Havens Forlag of Copenhagen.

Among his unpublished translations are the Sciences of Tafsir comprising portions of Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi’s Qur’anic commentary at-Tashil li ‘ulum at-tanzil, in particular his introductory sections on the essential elements of the sciences necessary for tafsir.

Works Edited

  • Islam: Its Basic Practices and Beliefs, Shaykh Abdalhaqq Bewley, Ta-Ha Publishers, (including typesetting and layout)
  • Aisha Bewley's translation of Ibn Hajar's abridgement of al-Mundhiri’s at-Targhib wa't-Tarhib (including typesetting and layout),
  • her translation of Imam an-Nawawi's Riyad as-Saliheen (including typesetting and layout),
  • Ibn Taymiyyah's The Noble Words: Remembrance and Prayers of the Prophet Muhammad (al-Kalim at-Tayyib) all of the above for the UK Islamic Academy (including typesetting and layout),
  • Dr Asadullah Yate's translation of al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah, published by Ta-Ha Publishers of London (including typesetting and layout),
  • and The Islam of the School of Madina, Dr Asadullah Yate's translation of Mufeed al-‘Ibad Sawaa’un al-‘Akifu feehi wa’l-Bad by Shaykh Ahmad ibn al-Bashir al-Qalaawi ash-Shinqeeti, in commentary on the Murshid al-Mu‘een published by Diwan Press (including typesetting and layout),
  • the translation of Imam an-Nawawi’s Kitab al-Adhkar for Turath Publishing,
  • Ustadh Tahir al-Kiani's translation of Mukhtasar al-Quduri on Hanafi fiqh for Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd.
  • A Social History of Education in the Muslim World by Dr. Amjad Hussain for Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd.
  • Illuminating the Darkness by Habeeb Akande for Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd.
  • Basic Qur'anic Arabic Grammar by Dr. Jamal-un-Nisa bint Rafai for Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd. (including typesetting and layout)
  • The Qur'an: Translation and Study, Juz 1, Juz 2-3, Juz 4 and Juz 30 by Dr. Jamal-un-Nisa bint Rafai for Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd. (including typesetting and layout)
  • The Fiqh of Medicine by Ahmed Abdel Aziz Yacoub for Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd. (including typesetting and layout)

Authorship

In 2008, his revision of ‘Abd ar-Rahman I. Doi’s Shari‘ah: Islamic Law was published by Ta-Ha Publishers. It contains a great deal of revision of the original text, including sourcing all of the hadith and texts cited originally, in addition to a substantial amount of new translations, in particular from al-Qawanin al-Fiqhiyyah of Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi and the tafsir of al-Qurtubi (including typesetting and layout). He is author of a number of children’s books (including typesetting and layout), all published by Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd.:
  • The Year of the Elephant,
  • The Great Victory and
  • The Last Battle all of which are on the sirah of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
    • as well as
  • The Story of Stories about the Prophet Yusuf, peace be upon him, in which he drew a great deal on the commentary of Ibn Juzayy, may Allah be merciful to him.

NOTE: Abdassamad Clarke has never been co-author with Harun Yahya in any of his books. He has edited some of Harun Yahya’s books which were published by Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd. He has also a number of poems, including God is Dead published in the Minaret journal of Stockholm, Sweden, and an as-yet unpublished collection of short stories called Tales Are Like That, and a novel called The Wings of the Butterfly.

Typesetting and Layout

In addition to typesetting the works noted above: Abdassamad is a teacher of both adults and children in Qur’an recitation (tajwid) and meanings, Arabic language and the deen in general, having organised and taken part in a conference under the auspices of Islamic Events of London on the History of the Islamic Khalifate, and having given discourses in Peterborough, Cambridge, London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Copenhagen, Jena, Stockholm, Lancaster, Manchester, Leicester and the University of Fez. He has regularly taught at the series of Deen Intensives organised by the New Muslims Initiative in Norwich. He is currently a director of Diwan Press and the Dean of the Muslim Faculty of Advanced Studies.

21 October, 2013 14:22