Maulana
Dr. Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari Al-Qadri R.A (1914-1974)
Dr Maulana Fazlur
Rahman Ansari (ra) was an outstanding theologian &
philosopher of the Muslim World. His broad knowledge
of the modern sciences together with his Islamic learning
and insight enabled him to expound on Islam in a manner that
was inspiring to both the masses and the intellectual elite.
As a missionary,
Maulana Ansari (ra) inspired Muslim minorities with fresh
faith & zeal. During his five world missionary tours
he affiliated 40 organisations to the World Federation of
Islamic Missions. The Muslim minorities in Latin
America, Africa, South East Asia,
Trinidad and elsewhere were confronted by a
hostile, non Muslim majority. Their only defence was
their sentimental attachment to Islam. Ansari’s (ra)
intellectual exposition of Islam gave the bright young
Muslims some hope that Islam, as a dynamic religion, can
withstand the challenges of the twentieth century. He
knew that Muslim minorities could not respond to the
challenges of secular modernity unless their religious
scholars were conversant with modern thought. This is
why he established the Aleemiyah Institute of Islamic
Studies in Karachi
where subjects such as philosophy and psychology were also
taught
His Education
In 1921, at six, the
young boy memorised the Quran at the Madrassah Islamiah
Muzaffar Nagar, U.P., India.
In 1933 Maulana Ansari (ra) enrolled for his BA degree at
the Aligarth Nuskim
University, and majored in
English, Philosophy and Arabic. Concurrently with his
studies at this institution, he did the Dars-e-Nizami
course under the tutorship of Prof. Hazrat Maulana Syed
Sulaiman Ashraf, Chairperson of the Department of Theology.
Here he studies Islamic studies including the Quran, Hadith,
Kalam (theology), and Tasawwuf (Islamic Spirituality).
By 1937, Maulana Abdul Aleem Siddiqui (ra) had sent him on
his first missionary errand to Singapore and Malaysia. Here he presented
Islam with forceful eloquence, and combated the aggressive
missionary activity of non-Muslim. To this end, he
edited the English Islamic journal Genuine Islam
and became the first director of the All-Malaya Muslim
Missionary Society.
In 1939 he obtained
a scholarship to go to Germany for higher studies, but the Second World
War put an end to his studies in Germany. Thus, he completed
the Bachelor of Islamic Theology in his own country in India, and then
persured his MA degree. He graduated with distinction
for his Masters, and majored in metaphysics, Ethics,
Psychology, and classical Islamic Philosophy. After
working for five years on his doctoral thesis under the
supervision of Dr S.Z. Hasan of the Aligarh University, his
supervisor had settled in Karachi just before Pakistan was
established in 1947, and passed away soon there after.
Another misfortune that occurred was when Maulana Ansari (ra)
migrated to
Pakistan
in November 1947, his library was looted at Amristar, and in
the process his thesis got destroyed. His Eminence
lost years of his painstaking and valuable research as Dr
Hasan remarked: “For some time he has now been working with
me on a philosophic-religious theme for his doctorate which
I am sure is going to be a great dissertation”. Dr Sir
Zaiuddin, the celebrated mathematician and vice chancellor
of Aligarh
Muslim
University
said on 11th August 1945: “I have great pleasure
in testifying to the character and attainments of Mr Hafiz
Fazlur Rahman Ansari (ra) … who has made his mark as a
scholar of exceptional talent and ability”.
From 1933 to 1947,
Maulana remained in Aligarh, and as an undergraduate student, he
used to read five hundred pages of literature a day to
broaden his knowledge in all fields of study including
medicine. On 29th September 1966 he was
registered as an authorised Practitioner of Homeopathy.
In 1970 he obtained
his PhD under the supervision of Dr M.M. Ahmed, Chair person
of the Department of Philosophy, University of Karachi.
His topic was The Islamic Moral code and its Metaphysical
background. One of the external examiners commented: “It
is, indeed, a comprehensive account of the moral code
provided by the Quran, a like of which, to my knowledge, has
not been formulated with such extensiveness by anyone in the
history of Muslim literature”.
His Missionary
Activity
In 1935 Maulana
Abdul Aleem Siddiqui (ra) was disturbed by an article
written by a Christian priest located in Singapore. The article
maligned Islam, and Maulana Ansari (ra) responded to it.
Maulana Siddiqui (ra) was extremely happy with this reply,
and since then that special bond of love between them
developed. In 1936 this bond was further cemented when
Maulana Abdul Aleem (ra) gave his eldest daughter to him in
marriage.
Maulana Ansari (ra)
became a mureed (spiritual disciple) of Maulana Siddiqui (ra)
and the former was initiated into the Sufi orders, including
the Qadariyyah, Chistiyyah, Naqshabandiyyah and
Suhrawardiyah amongst others. At the haram,
near the Ka’bah, Maulana Abdul Aleem (ra) transmitted to his
son in law the ijazah (authority) in all spiritual
matters. Since then Maulana Ansari (ra) became Maulana
Siddiqui (ra) right hand man in all Islamic missionary
activities.
His eminence was a
writer who wielded his pen with a mighty force. At the
age of 18 he wrote his first books, The Beacon light
(published 1932). In here he replied to a vicious
attack on Islam by a Christian priest in
Hong Kong. Many other works followed after
this, but his most important book is his The Quranic
Foundations and structure of Muslim Society (1973), a
two volume work, covering more than nine hundred pages.
Six months after the launch of the book, Maulana Ansari (ra)
passed away. His five round world tours took him to about
forty different countries in Africa,
America, Asia and
Europe. His profound knowledge combined
with his distinguished oratory created a lasting impression
on the minds of all – educated and uneducated, young and
old, Muslim and non-Muslim. His death was a great loss
to Pakistan in particular, and to the
Muslim world in general.
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