John Spencer Trimingham (17 November 1904 – 6 March 1987) was a noted 20th-century scholar on

Islam in Africa Islam in Africa is the continent's second most widely professed faith behind Christianity. Africa was the first continent into which Islam spread from Southwest Asia, during the early 7th century CE. Almost one-third of the world's Muslim popula ...

. Trimingham was born in Thorne to John William Trimingham and Alice Ventress. In Jerusalem (1932) Trimingham married Wardeh, who died in 1980. Trimingham studied social sciences at

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, Arabic and Persian at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and trained for the ministry of the Church of England at

Wells Theological College Wells Theological College began operation in 1840 within the Cathedral Close of Wells Cathedral. It was one of several new colleges created in the nineteenth century to cater not just for non-graduates, but for graduates from the old universiti ...

. He served with the

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...

in the Sudan, Egypt, and West Africa (1937–53) and travelled extensively carrying out detailed studies of

. He first published on Arabic and on the Christian approach to Islam, later on the history of Islam in Africa and

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

orders. Subsequently, he was reader in Arabic and head of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

(1953–64) and a visiting professor in the department of history at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

(1964–70). He then moved to the faculty of the

Near East School of Theology The Near East School of Theology (NEST), located in Beirut, Lebanon, is an interdenominational Reformed Protestant theological seminary serving Christian churches of the Middle East and North Africa, and also educates international students who ...

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

. Triminghan died in 1987 in Lingfield.

Works

* ''Sudan colloquial Arabic''. 2nd. rev. ed., London, 1946
Christian approach to Islam in the Sudan
'. London, Oxford University Press, 1948 * ''Islam in the Sudan''. London, Oxford University Press, 1949 * ''Islam in Ethiopia''. London, Oxford University Press, 1952 * ''Islam in West Africa''. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1959 * ''A history of Islam in West Africa''. London, Oxford University Press, 1964 * ''Islam in East Africa''. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1964. (Repr. New York, 1980: ) * ''The influence of Islam upon Africa''. London, Longmans, 1968 * ''The Sufi orders in Islam''. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1971. (Repr. 1998: ) * ''Two worlds are ours. A study of time and eternity in relation to the Christian Gospel freed from the tyranny of the Old Testament reference''. Beirut, Librairie du Liban, 1971 * ''Christianity among the Arabs in pre-Islamic times''. London, Longman, 1979.

References

External links

*Scanned copy of the entire boo
''Islam in the Sudan''
(failed OCR) {{DEFAULTSORT:Trimingham, J. Spencer British scholars of Islam Islam in Africa 1904 births 1987 deaths Alumni of Wells Theological College Alumni of the University of Birmingham