Fazlur Rahman Malik ( ur, ; September 21, 1919 – July 26, 1988), commonly known as Fazlur Rahman, was a

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

scholar and Islamic philosopher from today's

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Fazlur Rahman is renowned as a prominent liberal reformer of Islam, who devoted himself to educational reform and the revival of independent reasoning (''

ijtihad ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ar, اجتهاد ', ; lit. physical or mental ''effort'') is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a l ...

''). His works are subject of widespread interest and criticism in Muslim-majority countries.The Fazlur Rahman Meeting
/ref> He was protested by more than a thousand clerics, faqihs,

mufti A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion (''fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important role ...

s, and teachers in his own country and banished. After teaching in Britain and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, Rahman was appointed head of the Central Institute of Islamic Research of Pakistan in 1963. Although his works were widely respected by other Islamic reformers, they were also heavily criticized by

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

scholars as being overtly liberal.Sonn, Tamara. (1995). "Rahman, Fazlur". In John L. Esposito. ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. This was quickly exploited by opponents of his political patron, General

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

, and led to his eventual exile in the United States. He left Pakistan in 1968 for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

where he taught at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...

and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

Biography

Rahman was born in the Hazara District of the North West Frontier Province (now

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...

) of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now

). His father, Maulana Shihab al-Din, was a well-known scholar of the time who had studied at

Deoband Deoband is a town and a municipality in Saharanpur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, about 150 km from Delhi. Darul Uloom Deoband, an Islamic seminary and one of the largest Islamic Institution of India is located there. Etymo ...

and had achieved the rank of

alim Alim (''ʿAlīm'' , also anglicized as ''Aleem'') is one of the Names of God in Islam, meaning "''All-knowing one''". It is also used as a personal name, as a short form of Abdul Alim, "''Servant of the All-Knowing''": Given name * Alim ad-Din ...

, through his studies of

Islamic law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...

, prophetic narrations, Quran'ic commentaries,

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from prem ...

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

and other subjects. Although Fazlur Rahman may not have himself attended a Darul uloom (traditional seat of Islamic knowledge), his father acquainted him with the traditional Islamic sciences, and he eventually memorized the entire Qur'an at the age of ten. Rahman studied

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

at Punjab University, and went on to

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 ...

, where he wrote a dissertation on

Ibn Sina Ibn Sina ( fa, ابن سینا; 980 – June 1037 CE), commonly known in the West as Avicenna (), was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, philosophers, and writers of the Islami ...

. Afterwards, he began a teaching career, first at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills ( Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_cha ...

, where he taught Persian and Islamic philosophy, and then at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Univer ...

, where he taught Islamic studies until 1961. In that year, he returned to Pakistan at the behest of President Ayub Khan to head up the Central Institute of Islamic Research in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

which was set up by the Pakistani government in order to implement Islam into the daily dealings of the nation. However, due to the political situation in Pakistan, Rahman was hindered from making any progress in this endeavour. Orthodox

ulema 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 ...

opposed his modernist interpretations and after Ayub Khan's power weakened, they denounced Rahman as an apostate and called for his death as a wajib ul qatl. Khan, ''Islamic Banking in Pakistan'', 2015: pp.42, 48 He resigned from the post in September 1968 and left for the

. In the US he returned to teaching, and taught at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

as a visiting professor for a year. He moved to the

in 1969 and established himself there becoming the Harold H. Swift Distinguished Service Professor of Islamic Thought. At Chicago he was instrumental for building a strong

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

ern Studies program that continues to be among the best in the world. Rahman also became a proponent for a reform of the Islamic polity and was an advisor to the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...

. Rahman died in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

July 26, 1988 at the

University of Chicago Medical Center The University of Chicago Medical Center (UChicago Medicine) is a nationally ranked academic medical center located in Hyde Park on the South Side of Chicago. It is the flagship campus for The University of Chicago Medicine system and was establi ...

from complications of coronary bypass surgery. A resident of suburban

Naperville, Illinois Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city. Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...

, at his death, he is buried in Arlington Cemetery,

Elmhurst, Illinois Elmhurst is a city mostly in DuPage County and overlapping into Cook County in the U.S. state of Illinois, and a western suburb of Chicago. As of 2021, the city has an estimated population of 47,260. History Members of the Potawatomi Nativ ...

. Since Rahman's death his writings have continued to be popular among scholars of Islam and the Near East in many countries (including Pakistan,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

, and in the Arab region). His contributions to the University of Chicago are still evident in its excellent programs in these areas. In his memory, the

Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago The Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago is a National Resource Center for the study of a region extending from Morocco in the West to Kazakhstan in the East. As a result, this Area Center covers some of the most importan ...

named its common area after him, due to his many years of service at the center and at the University of Chicago at large. He was a

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all Eu ...

who, apart from mastering

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Persian,

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

quite early in his life, eventually also learned

classical Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

in order to be more efficient in his academic career.

Views

He argued that the basis of

Islamic revival Islamic revival ( ar, تجديد'' '', lit., "regeneration, renewal"; also ', "Islamic awakening") refers to a revival of the Islamic religion. The revivers are known in Islam as ''mujaddids''. Within the Islamic tradition, ''tajdid'' has bee ...

was the return to the intellectual dynamism that was the hallmark of the Islamic scholarly tradition (these ideas are outlined in ''Revival and Reform in Islam: A Study of Islamic Fundamentalism'' and his magnum opus, ''Islam''). He sought to give philosophy free rein, and was keen on Muslims appreciating how the modern

nation-state A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may in ...

understood law, as opposed to ethics; his view being that the

shari'ah Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and th ...

was a mixture of both ethics and law. He was critical of historical Muslim theologies and philosophies for failing to create a

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...

and

ethical Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

worldview based on the values derived from 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.: , si ...

: 'moral values', unlike

socioeconomic Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their l ...

values, 'are not exhausted at any point in history' but require constant interpretation. He also believed that the modern conservatism of Islamic world is a defensive and temporary posture against the perceived political and economic setbacks of the Muslim world. Adding to this was stagnation in

Islamic education Islamic education may refer to: *Islamic studies, the academic study of Islam and Islamic culture *Madrasah Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of ...

begun in the early Middle Ages, which led to the inadequate understanding of Qur'anic teachings. He saw it as a priority to re-introduce intellectual disciplines such as philosophy, rationalist theology, and social sciences in education.

Social justice

Rahman criticizes Islamic tradition for failing to develop a systematic Quran-based ethical theory, rather than merely a judicial code. He considers the theocracy and monarchy (imamate and

caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

) to be understandable attempts at creating a just society in historical times, and stresses the Quranic concept of ''

shura Shura ( ar, شُورَىٰ, translit=shūrā, lit=consultation) can for example take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other. Shura is mentioned as a praisewor ...

'' (mutual consultation) for modern governance. He believes in extending the principle of ''shura'' to all of society, not only the elite, and in collaboration between religious and secular experts.

Riba

The issue of what ''

riba The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

'' is and whether it includes all interest on loans has been a major issue in Islam during the 20th century and early 21st. The Islamic revival movement that grew in strength and influence during Rahman's lifetime, considered all and any interest on loans ''riba'' and a "curse", and considered putting an end to it a top priority. As an

Islamic Modernist Islamic modernism is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge" attempting to reconcile the Islamic faith with modern values such as democracy, civil rights, rationality, ...

, Rahman disagreed, believing that only high-interest loans were ''riba'', and in particularly that ''riba'' referred only to a particular type of interest charged in the time of Muhammad. He cited the ''Muwatta'' of

Imam Malik Malik ibn Anas ( ar, مَالِك بن أَنَس, ‎ 711–795 CE / 93–179 AH), whose full name is Mālik bin Anas bin Mālik bin Abī ʿĀmir bin ʿAmr bin Al-Ḥārith bin Ghaymān bin Khuthayn bin ʿAmr bin Al-Ḥārith al-Aṣbaḥī ...

in arguing that ''riba'' should not be interpreted literally but must be understood in the context of pre-Islamic Arab moneylending customs. Feisal Khan describes his position as being that

"The banned ''riba'' in the Quran referred to a particular custom, ''riba al-nasiah'' or ''riba al-jahaliyah'', where when the debt came due it was traditional to ask the borrower `will you pay or will you ''riba''?` If the borrower chose the latter, he would be granted an extension on the loan but the amount due would be doubled -- hense the ''riba''. ... If the borrower then defaulted on the doubled amount, his debt was redoubled and he was given another time extension: if unable to pay, he and all his possessions could be auctioned off to satisfy his creditors." Khan, ''Islamic Banking in Pakistan'', 2015: p.54

Rahman himself wrote that "the initial interest itself was not usurious and was, therefore, not considered riba. What made it riba was the increase ... that raised the principal several-fold by continued redoubling." This contradicted the contention of famous Islamist author Maulana Maududi that there was no initial interest—that money lenders made initial loans "granted free of interest"—which was doubtful on the grounds that professional moneylenders would ever make loans for free. Rahman concluded that the Quran banned "extreme usury and so by extension injustice but not interest."

Reform movements

Rahman criticizes the pre-modern revivalist movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth century for discouraging intellectualism;

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

for selectively using passages and not being grounded in methodology; and neo-fundamentalism for likewise not being based on proper analyses. Rather than Islamic secularism, he was most optimistic about a "neo-modernism" based on an Islamic methodology, in contrast to previous reform efforts.

Interpretation of the Quran

Mohammed Ali Ismail discusses how Fazlur Rahman contributed to the creation of the contextual approach for examining 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.: , sin ...

. The contextual approach when examining the Qur’an means to understand that the Qur’an was created in a specific time and influenced by certain people; therefore, it is context-specific to the time it was created. Rahman says that two things or what he calls “a twofold movement” need to be done when trying to interpret the Qur’an into modern times, and through these ideas, his support of a contextual approach to the Qur’an is evident. The first thing Rahman says is modern people need to keep in mind the context of when the Qur’an was made. The second thing Rahman says that needs to be considered is modern social changes that would not have been possible in the time the Qur’an was made. People such as Abdullah Saeed and Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd also support the contextual approach. Amina Wadud and Sa'diyyah Shaikh claim to be inspired by Rhman's ideas such as his contextual approach to the Qur'an.

Influence on Islamic feminism

Fazlur Rahman did not call himself a feminist when he was alive, and people don’t usually outright label him as a feminist. However, some feminists, such as Amina Wadud and Sa’diyyah Shaikh, have claimed to have inspired or influenced by Fazlur Rahman’s ideas. Also, some feminists, such as Tamara Sonn, imply that Rahman’s thoughts contributed to Islamic Feminism. By combining Rahman and Ricoeur’s ideas, Jeenah argues that an Islamic Feminist Hermeneutic approach should be used to interpret the Qur’an. Rahman’s ideas are represented in the word feminist in the Islamic Feminist Hermeneutic approach since Rahman’s ideas of equal rights can be seen as feminist. Raja Bahlul emphasizes Rahman's contextual approach to interpreting legal proceedings from the Qur’an. Bahlul argues that a legal procedure in the Qur’an may become irrelevant, due to drastic social changes compared to the time of the creation of the Qur’an. An example of a legal preceding that may no longer be relevant is verse 2:282, which says two female witnesses are the equivalent of one male witness. Rahman argues that two female witnesses are equivalent to one male witness, because they are not used to being witnesses and may need each other to remember details. But Rahman also says that as more women become witnesses, they will get used to the experience and no longer need another female to help them remember the event. Thus, Bahlul uses Rahman to show that its possible to have feminist ideas within Islamic ideas without choosing one over the other. Tamara Sonn looks at Fazlur Rahman’s ideas on Islamic Reform and how he influenced Azizah al-Hibri, to show Rahman's contribution to Islamic Feminism. Rahman often said that the Qur’an “is not a legal document” to emphasize that there are few things in the Qur’an that are not up for interpretation. Rahman argues that the reader must keep in mind the context the Qur’an was made in to be able to interpret specific rules to general rules that can be applied to modern situations. Al-Hibri agrees with Rahman that specific rules are not up for interpretation, such as worship practices, and general rules must be interpreted. Rahman saw polygyny in the Qur’an as something that occurred under specific circumstances, such as the

Prophets In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

, polygyny was becoming less common and monogamy becoming the norm. Rahman was neither for nor against polygyny, but the context in which it happens was most essential to him.

Publications

*''Avicenna's Psychology'', Oxford University Press, London, 1952. *''Islam'', University of Chicago Press, 2nd edition, 1979. *''Prophecy in Islam: Philosophy and Orthodoxy,'' University of Chicago Press, 1979, 2011 *''Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition'', University of Chicago Press, 1982. *''Major Themes of the Qur'an'', University of Chicago Press, 2009. *''Revival and Reform in Islam'' (ed.

Ebrahim Moosa Ebrahim Moosa is the Mirza Family Professor of Islamic Thought & Muslim Societies at the University of Notre Dame with appointments in the Department of History and in the Kroc Institute for International Studies in the Keough School of Global Af ...

), Oneworld Publications, 1999. *''Islamic Methodology in History'', Central Institute of Islamic Research, 1965. *
Shariah
Chapter from ''Islam'' nchor Book, 1968 pp. 117–137. *'' Islamic Methodology in history Urdu with Introduction by Muhammad Younus Qasmi'', Iqbal International Institute for Research and Dialogue(IRD), 2021.

References

Books, articles

* Book Review By Faheem Hussai

*

External links

Revisiting Fazlur Rahman's OrdealCollection and review of Fazlur Rahman's works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahman Malik, Fazlur 1919 births 1988 deaths Islamic philosophers 20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Pakistani writers Pakistani scholars Pakistani scholars of Islam 20th-century Pakistani philosophers Academics of Durham University University of Chicago faculty University of the Punjab alumni Muslim scholars of Islamic studies