Amin Ahsan Islahi ( ur, مولانا امین احسن اصلاحی; 1904 – 15 December 1997), was a Pakistani

Muslim scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

best known for his Urdu exegesis of the Quran, '' Tadabbur-i-Quran'' "Pondering on the Quran", which he based on Hamiduddin Farahi's (1863 – 1930), idea of thematic and structural coherence in the Qur'an.Profile of Amin Ahsan Islahi on Oxford Islamic Studies Online website
Retrieved 5 April 2020

Early life

Islahi was born in 1904 at Bamhur village in

Azamgarh Azamgarh is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Azamgarh division, which consists of Ballia, Mau and Azamgarh districts. Azamgarh is situated on the bank of Tamsa River (Tons). It is located east of the st ...

, United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh), British India (now India). After graduating from

Madrasatul Islah Madrasatul Islah is a traditional Islamic institution of learning and a renowned center of oriental and Islamic studies at Sarai Mir in the Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. It was started by Mawlana Muhammad Shafi in 1908 along with partic ...

in Azamgarh in 1922, he entered the field of journalism. He was the son in law of

Chaudhry Abdul Rehman Khan Chaudhary Rana Muhammad Abdul Rehman Khan was the Rana of Rahon Jagir and Member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. (3 January 1927, to 26 July 1930; 24 October 1930, to 10 November 1936; 5 April 1937, to 19 March 1945) Biography Chaudhary R ...

. First he worked as an associated editor in "Khoonch" a children magazine. Then he edited a newspaper ''Madinah'' at

Bijnor Bijnor is a city and a municipal board in Bijnor district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, IndiaAbdul Majid Daryabadi.

Inspiration from Hamiduddin Farahi

In 1925 Hamiduddin Farahi invited Islahi to study the

Qur’an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing.: ...

with him and Islahi left his journalistic career to do so. He learned from Farahi the principles of direct deliberation on the Book of Allah. During this time, he also taught the Qur’an and Arabic literature at the Madrasah. After Farahi's death, Islahi studied Hadith from the scholar Abdu’l Rahman Muhaddith Mubarakpuri. In 1936, Islahi founded the "Daira-i-Hamidiyyah", a small institute to disseminate the Qur’anic thought of Farahi. Under the auspices of this institute, he brought out a monthly journal "Al-Islah" in which he translated many portions of Farahi's treatises written in Arabic. The journal was published until 1939, after which it was discontinued.

Association with Jamaat-e-Islami

Like Naeem Siddiqui, Manzoor Nomani and Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi, Islahi was among the founder members of the

Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami ( ur, ) () is an Islamic movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamic theologian and socio-political philosopher, Syed Abul Ala Maududi.van der Veer P. and Munshi S. (eds.''Media, War, and Terrorism: Responses fro ...

, a religious party founded by the eminent Islamic scholar Abul A'la Maududi in 1941. During his seventeen-year stay in the party, he represented the intellectual element and remained a member of the central governing body, ''Majlis-i-Shura''. During this period, he did the groundwork needed to write a commentary of the Qur’an – an objective which he had set before him early in life. In 1956 the Government of Pakistan set up the Islamic Law Commission and Islahi – an expert on Islamic law – served as a member until the commission was abolished in 1958 by the martial law regime of

General Ayub Khan Muhammad Ayub Khan (Urdu: ; 14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974), was the second President of Pakistan. He was an army general who seized the presidency from Iskander Mirza in a coup in 1958, the first successful coup d'état in the country's h ...

. In 1958, he quit the party after serious differences arose between him and Mawdudi over some policy differences. Islahi considered participating in elections a useless exercise for the purposes of bringing about an Islamic change. His thinking simply was that politicians can not establish Islam. Many politicians' aim is to gain power by any means necessary. He thought that if some people use the name of Islam, they do so to achieve their own political objectives. In his view, those who would like to work for the cause of Islam and its revival should work among people selflessly, without any desire for gaining power. These workers should approach the people only to serve them, to educate them, and to help them reform their lives morally in the Islamic way of life.

Completion of Tadabbur-i-Qur’an

After leaving the

, he began writing a commentary of the Qur’an. He also launched a monthly journal ''Mithaq'' in which portions of this commentary, '' Tadabbur-i-Qur’an'' were published. In 1961 he established a small study circle, ''Halqa-i-Tadabbur-i- Qur’an'', for college students to whom he taught Arabic language and literature, the Qur’an and Sahih Muslim. In 1965, an incident brought an end to both the journal and the study circle: Islahi's eldest son Abu Saleh died in a plane crash. However, work on the commentary continued. In 1970–71, Islahi fell severely ill and had to discontinue all his intellectual pursuits but he later recovered. In 1972, he moved to a country village near

Sheikhupura Sheikhupura ( pa, ; ur, ) also known as Qila Sheikhupura, is a city in the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. Founded by the Mughal Empire, Mughal Emperor Jahangir, Jehangir in 1607, Sheikhupura is the List of most populous citie ...

where he continued to work on the commentary till 1979, when he returned to Lahore. On the 29th of Ramadan 1400 (August 12, 1980) he finished '' Tadabbur-i-Qur’an'' after twenty-two years of work. In 1981 Islahi founded the ''Idara-i-Tadabbur-i Qur’an-o Hadith'' and appointed his close pupil

Khalid Masud Allama Khalid Masud (16 December 1935 – 1 October 2003), was a Muslim scholar of Pakistan. He spent the major part of his life with Moulana Amin Ahsan Islahi. He conveyed ideas and thoughts of his teacher and Imam Farhi to general public. He ...

as first Nazim of this Idara (institution), which later came under the supervision of Abdullah Ghulam Ahmed in Lahore, Pakistan. It remained the centre of all his intellectual activities until his death on 15 December 1997. A quarterly journal,

Tadabbur Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

, was taken out in 1981 as its organ. Khalid Masud was appointed its first editor and in charge till his death in Oct 2003. He gave weekly lectures on the text of the Qur’an. Later he took up deep study on the principles of Hadith and began teaching the Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik in weekly sittings to a close circle of students and associates. After completing Al-Muwatta, he also taught some portions of Imam Bukhari’s Sahih Bukhari. Many of these lectures have been transcribed and published in the

. Khalid Masud played a major role in converting Islahi's speeches and lectures into publication for benefits of the Islamic scholars and public.

Works

Besides the nine volume Urdu Tafsir '' Tadabbur-i-Qur’an'' (''Pondering on the Qura'n''), which Islahi started writing in 1958 and finished in 1980, he wrote a number of articles and authored a number of books on various topics of Islam, including: #‘تزكيہ نفس’ (Tazkiyah-i-Nafs: Purification of the Soul) #‘حقيقت شرك’ (Haqiqat-i-Shirk: The Essence of Polytheism)Books by Amin Ahsan Islahi on goodreads.com website
Retrieved 5 April 2020 #‘حقيقت توحيد’ (Haqiqat-i-Tawhid: The Essence of Monotheism) # (Haqeeqat-e- Risalath: The Essence of Prophethood) #Haqeeqath-e- Ma-aad : The Essence of Hereafter #‘دعوت دين اور اس كا طريقہ كار’ (Da‘wat-i-Din awr us ka Tariqah-i-Kar: Islamic Message and the Mode of its Preaching) #‘اسلامى قانون كى تدوين’ (Islami Qanun ki Tadwin: Codification of Islamic law) #‘اسلامى رياست’ (Islami Riyasat
The Islamic state
#‘اسلامى معاشره ميں عورت كا مقام’ (Islami Mu‘asharay mayn ‘Awrat ka Muqam: The Status of Women in an Islamic Society) #‘حقيقت نماز’ (Haqiqat-i-Namaz: The Essence of the Prayer) #‘حقيقت تقوى’ (Haqiqat-i-Taqwah: The Essence of Piousness) #‘اسلامي رياست ميں فقہى اختلافات كا حل’ (Islami Riyasat mayn Fiqhi Ikhtilafat ka Hal: Solution of Juristic Differences in an Islamic State) #‘مبادي تدبر قرآن’ (Mabadi Tadabbur-i-Qur’an: Principles of Understanding the Qur’an) #‘مبادي تدبر حديث’ (Mabadi Tadabbur-i-Hadees: Principles of Understanding the Hadees) #‘تنقيدات’ (Tanqidat: A collection of critical essays) #‘توضيحات’ (Tawdihat: A collection of general explanatory essays) #‘مقالات اصلاحي’ (Maqalat-i-Islahi: A miscellaneous collection of articles) #‘قرآن ميں پرده كے احكامات’ (Qur’an mayn Parday kay Ahkamat: The Directives of

Hijab In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While ...

in the Qur’an) #‘تفہيم دين’ (Tafhim-i-Din: Understanding Islam) #‘فلسفـے كے مسائل قرآن كى روشنى ميں’ (Falsafay kay Matha’il Qur’an ki Rawshani mayn: Philosophical Issues in the Light of the Qur’an) # Tadabbur -e- Hadeedh (Understanding the Hadees) Islahi also translated Farahi’s commentary consisting of fourteen Surahs of the Qur’an, as well as his following books from Arabic: # (Majmua Tafathir Farahi) #‘في من هو الذبيح’ (Fi man huwa al-Dhabih: Which of Abraham’s son was Sacrificed?) #‘اقسام القرآن’ (Aqsamu’l-Qur’an: Oaths of the Qur’an)

Death and legacy

Amin Ahsan Islahi died in Lahore, Pakistan on 15 December 1997 at age 93. His students in Pakistan include

and Javed Ahmad Ghamidi. Islahi was described by a former student as "very sensitive, courteous and caring, frank yet very reasonable, warm and loving" and that Islahi thought the most important thing in his life was to "explain and elucidate" the Quran. After his death,

succeeded him in charge of Idara Taddabur-e Quran-o-Hadith.

References

External links

* * Mir, Mustansir. ''Coherence in the Qur’an: A Study of Islahi’s Concept of Nazm in Tadabbur-i Qur'an''. Indianapolis: American Trust Publications, 1986. . * Robinson, Neal. ''Discovering the Qur’an: A Contemporary Approach to a Veiled Text''. London: SCM Press, 1996. .
Khalid Masud: Amin Ahsan Islahi's Intellectual Heir (1935 — 2003)
(pdf),
The Mission Newsletter
', Volume 9, Issue 3-4, March–April 2004.
Amin Ahsan Islahi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Islahi, Amin Ahsan 1904 births 1997 deaths People from Azamgarh district Pakistani Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Translators of the Quran into Urdu Quranic exegesis scholars 20th-century translators Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan politicians Political party founders Muhajir people