John ‘Yehya’ Parkinson was born in the town in 1874 to Irish parents. A wool spinner by trade, his life and work would bridge cultures, continents and communities before his death in 1918.
The new biography, by Philip S Blair – a distant cousin of Parkinson – is called The Muslim Rabbie Burns – The Remarkable Life of John ‘Yehya’ Parkinson and is now available on Amazon.
The poet and author was largely forgotten – although he has a plaque on the Kilwinning Heritage Trail – until recent years.
A revival of his work in the 2000s saw several of his poems set to music.
The new book tells of his early life in Kilwinning. Having lost both his Irish-born parents whilst still a baby, he lived his entire life in the home of his grandparents.
After their death, he supported himself from the age of 16 as a wool spinner in the nearby Busby Spinning Company, later the site of Bridgend Motors.
He taught himself astronomy, mathematics, science, geography and philosophy before converting to Islam around 1900.
(Image: Amazon) Discovering a talent for poetry, he adopted the name Yehya-en-Nasr. Some of his early work was first published in the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald around that time.
Although relatively isolated in Scotland, Parkinson maintained contact with the Liverpool Muslim Institute between 1901 and 1908 which helped to establish his literary reputation by publishing his early work.
As well as his column in the local newspaper, writing under the name of ‘Ingomar’, Parkinson published several books, including Essays on Islamic Philosophy, and his collection of poems, Lays of Love and War, which deal with romance and Jihad.
He had a two-year sojourn in Burma as a deputy editor of a Rangoon newspaper in 1908-10, but ill-health forced him to return to Scotland, where he died in December 1918 after a short bout of pneumonia.
Those who took care of his burial and effects chose not to mention his association with the British Islamic Movement and he was buried in Kilwinning Cemetery in a grave with no memorial stone.
The new book, with a foreword by renowned Islamic scholar Yahya Birt, research director at the Ayaan Institute, London, looks at his early life in Kilwinning, his self-taught education and his Irish roots, which he discussed at length in his writing.
It is available from Amazon priced £19.99.