T. B. Irving (A1-Hajj Tanim (1914-2002) Professor Dr. Thomas Ballantine Irving was a prominent American Muslim. He held his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University, and founded Near Eastern Studies at the University of Minnesota. In 1969, he became Professor of Spanish and Arabic at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; he retired as Professor Emeritus in 1980. A Fulbright Research Fellow in Baghdad, Iraq (1956-57), he travelled and lectured widely throughout the Arab world as well as Iran, Pakistan, Nigeria, South Africa and Brazil. Professor Irving was a member of many learned societies, including the American Oriental Society, the Middle East Studies Association, and the Middle East Institute. His areas of special interest were the Arab Islamic period in Spanish History and the contemporary Islamic period in Spanish History and the contemporary Islamic world. His numerous articles were published both in the United States and abroad. Professor Emeritus at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Dean of Arts and Sciences at the American Islamic College, Chicago, Dr. Irving founded schools of Arabic or Near Eastern studies at three state Universities in the U.S.A. He was a dedicated American Muslim, Islamic scholar, and linguist. The author of Falcon of Spain, a biography of the 8th Century Arab ruler, `Abd ul-Rahman I, and Islam Resurgent, Dr. Irving has made the first American translation of the Qur'an, a work of some twenty-five years of study and research.