->Seraphimblade at 21:41, 10 December 2021

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{{short description|Quran translator}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=April 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| religion = [[Islam]]
| honorific_prefix = [[Mawlānā]] [[Imam]]
| name = Ameen Ahsan Islahi
| image = Amin Ahsan Islahi.jpg
| birth_date = 1904
| occupation = {{hlist|[[Theologian]]|[[linguistic]]|[[Imam]]|[[Bibliographer]]}}
| birth_place = [[Azamgarh]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_date = 15 December 1997<br>(aged 92-93)
| death_place = [[Lahore]], [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], [[Pakistan]]
| resting_place = DHA, Lahore, [[Punjab, Pakistan]]
| region = [[Indian subcontinent]]
| era = [[Modern era]]
| school_tradition = [[Sunni]]
| main_interests = [[Quran]]|
| disciple_of = [[Hamiduddin Farahi]]
| module = {{Infobox person|child=yes
| known_for = 'Nazm'', or Coherence, in the [[Quran]] theory of ''Nazm-ul-Quran}}
| influences = {{ubl|[[Hamiduddin Farahi]]|[[Shibli Nomani]]}}
| influenced = {{ubl|[[Khalid Masud]]|[[Javed Ahmad Ghamidi]]|[[Israr Ahmed]]|[[Muhammad Farooq Khan]]|[[Yusuf Islahi]]|[[Nouman Ali Khan]]|[[Wahiduddin Khan]]}}
| notable_ideas = Concept of thematic and structural coherence in [[Quran]]
| notable_works = Taddabur-i-quran
}}
''' Amin Ahsan Islahi''' (1904 – 15 December 1997), was a Pakistani [[List of modern-day Muslim scholars|Muslim scholar]], famous for his [[Urdu]] exegeses of Quran, [[Tadabbur-i-Qur’an]] (Pondering on the Quran), an exegesis that he based on [[Hamiduddin Farahi]]'s (1863 – 1930), idea of thematic and structural coherence in the Qur'an.<ref name=oxford>[http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1086 Profile of Amin Ahsan Islahi on Oxford Islamic Studies Online website] Retrieved 5 April 2020</ref><ref name=DT>{{cite web|url=http://www.dar-ut-tazkeer.com/islahi.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904131828/http://www.dar-ut-tazkeer.com/islahi.htm |archive-date=4 September 2006|date=8 April 2004|title=Profile of Amin Ahsan Islahi (1904 – 1997)|website=Dar-ul-Tazkeer.com website|access-date=27 March 2020}}</ref>

==Early life==
Islahi was born in 1904 at Bamhur village in [[Azamgarh]], [[Uttar Pradesh|United Provinces]] (now [[Uttar Pradesh]]), [[British India]] (now [[India]]). After graduating from [[Madrasatul Islah]] in Azamgarh<ref name="IAhmed166">{{cite book |last1=Irfan Ahmad |title=Religion as Critique: Islamic Critical Thinking from Mecca to the Marketplace |date=20 November 2017 |page=166 |isbn=9781469635101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EIg_DwAAQBAJ&q=Madrasatul%20Islah&pg=PA166 |access-date=23 March 2020}}</ref> in 1922, he entered the field of journalism. He was the son in law of [[Chaudhry Abdul Rehman Khan]]. First he worked as an associated editor in "Khoonch" a children magazine. Then he edited a newspaper ''Madinah'' at [[Bijnor]], India and also remained associated with "Sach", a newspaper taken out by [[Abdul Majid Daryabadi]].

==Inspiration from Hamiduddin Farahi==
In 1925 [[Hamiduddin Farahi]] invited Islahi to study the [[Qur’an]] 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.<ref name=DT/>

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 till 1939, after which it was discontinued.

==Association with Jamaat-e-Islami==
Like Maulana [[Naeem Siddiqui]], Maulana Muhammad [[Manzur Nu'mani]] and Maulana [[Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi]], Islahi was among the founder members of the [[Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan|Jamaat-e-Islami]], a religious party founded by the eminent Islamic scholar [[Mawdudi]] in 1941.<ref name=DT/> 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 [[Sharia|Islamic law]] – served as a member until the commission was abolished in 1958 by the martial law regime of General [[Ayub Khan (Field Marshal)|Ayub Khan]]. In 1958, he quit the party after serious differences arose between him and Mawdudi over some policy differences.<ref name=DT/>

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.<ref name=DT/>

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.<ref name=DT/> 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.<ref name=DT/>

==Completion of Tadabbur-i-Qur’an==
After leaving the [[Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan|Jamaat-e-Islami]], 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]] 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.<ref name=DT/><ref name=oxford/>

In 1981 Islahi founded the ''Idara-i-Tadabbur-i Qur’an-o Hadith'' and appointed his close pupil [[Khalid Masud]] 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.<ref name=DT/> A quarterly journal, [[Tadabbur]], 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 [[Muwatta Imam Malik|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 [[Tadabbur]]. Khalid Masud played a major role in converting Islahi's speeches and lectures into publication for benefits of the Islamic scholars and public.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ukim.org/Uploads/newsletter/NewsLetterMarApr2004.pdf |title=Profile of Khalid Masud (The Mission Newsletter)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060918110954/http://ukim.org/Uploads/newsletter/NewsLetterMarApr2004.pdf |date=10 February 2005|archive-date=18 September 2006|access-date=5 April 2020}}</ref>

==Works==
[[File:books islahi01.jpg|thumb|Some of Islahi's 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,<ref name=DT/> 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)<ref name=goodreads/>
#‘حقيقت شرك’ (Haqiqat-i-Shirk: The Essence of [[Polytheism]])<ref name=goodreads>[https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Amin+Ahsan&qid=X6fApv9Azu Books by Amin Ahsan Islahi on goodreads.com website] Retrieved 5 April 2020</ref>
#‘حقيقت توحيد’ (Haqiqat-i-Tawhid: The Essence of [[Monotheism]])<ref name=goodreads/>
# (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 [[Sharia|Islamic law]])
#‘اسلامى رياست’ (Islami Riyasat: [http://tariqmahmoodhashmi.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-islamic-state-english-translation.html The Islamic state])
#‘اسلامى معاشره ميں عورت كا مقام’ (Islami Mu‘asharay mayn ‘Awrat ka Muqam: The Status of Women in an Islamic Society)<ref name=DT/>
#‘حقيقت نماز’ (Haqiqat-i-Namaz: The Essence of the [[Prayer]])<ref name=goodreads/>
#‘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’ <ref name=goodreads/>
#‘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 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 <ref name=goodreads/>

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)<ref name=DT/>
#‘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)<ref name=DT/>

==Death and legacy==
Amin Ahsan Islahi died in [[Lahore]], Pakistan on 15 December 1997 at age 93.<ref name=DT/> His students in [[Pakistan]] include [[Khalid Masud]] and [[Javed Ahmad Ghamidi]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.al-mawrid.org/pages/research_detail.php?research_id=5|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090801032942/http://www.al-mawrid.org/pages/research_detail.php?research_id=5|archive-date = 1 August 2009|title = Al-Mawrid}}</ref> 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.<ref name=DT/>

After his death, [[Khalid Masud]] succeeded him in charge of Idara Taddabur-e Quran-o-Hadith.{{cn|date=August 2021}}

==See also==
* [[Naeem Siddiqui]]
* [[Islamic scholars]]
* [[Khalid Masud]]
* [[Javed Ahmed Ghamidi]]
* [[Mizan]]
* [[Chaudhry Abdul Hameed Khan]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web|url=http://renaissance.com.pk/jafetitl98.html |title=Renaissance (a monthly Islamic Journal includes writings by Amin Ahsan Islahi) also includes a ''A Brief Biographical Sketch of Islahi''|website=Renaissance.com website|date=17 January 2001|access-date=27 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313073056/http://renaissance.com.pk/jafetitl98.html |archive-date=13 March 2007}}
* 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. {{ISBN|0-89259-065-3}}.
* Robinson, Neal. ''Discovering the Qur’an: A Contemporary Approach to a Veiled Text''. London: SCM Press, 1996. {{ISBN|0-334-02649-0}}.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060918110954/http://ukim.org/Uploads/newsletter/NewsLetterMarApr2004.pdf Khalid Masud: Amin Ahsan Islahi's Intellectual Heir (1935 — 2003)] (pdf), ''[http://www.ukim.org The Mission Newsletter]'', Volume 9, Issue 3-4, March–April 2004.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060904131828/http://www.dar-ut-tazkeer.com/islahi.htm Amin Ahsan Islahi, Dar-ut-Tazkeer]
*[http://www.amin-ahsan-islahi.org/about Amin Ahsan Islahi]
{{Hanafi scholars}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Islahi, Amin Ahsan}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Azamgarh district]]
[[Category:Pakistani Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam]]
[[Category:Translators of the Quran into Urdu]]
[[Category:Quranic exegesis scholars]]
[[Category:20th-century translators]]
[[Category:Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan politicians]]
[[Category:Political party founders]]
[[Category:Muhajir people]]

Amin Ahsan Islahi - Revision history

->Seraphimblade at 21:41, 10 December 2021