The Influence of Maulana Dr. F.R. Ansari’s Thought in the World

 The Influence of Maulana Dr. F.R. Ansari’s Thought in the World

N.E. Abdul Hedi, Jakarta, Indonesia

Maulana Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari was born in Muzaffar Nagar U.P india on 14^th Sha’ban 1333, corresponding to 14^th August 1914. He started his study by learning the Holy Qur’an, the scripture of Islam.

Maulana Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari was a genious, a great intellectual and thinker, a man of action, truly a dynamic personality. He was a far – sighted saint and he could not only foresee the trend and necessity of Islam spreading over every nook and corner of the world but he could also analyze the aliments of provide cure to the among Muslim societies. He made Islamic Missionary world tours and covered dozens of countries including Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, United States of America, Trinidad and Tabago, Guyana, Suriname, England, Holland, Turkey, Syria, Iraq etc. Wherever he went he was hailed as a great preacher of Islam. People listened to him and were moved to ecstasy. They all requested him to provide successful and competent preachers in different countries where the Muslims were in minority and needed regular religious guidance for themselves and for their children. He grasped the situation and decided immediately to set up an organization for the purpose. He founded the World Federation of Islamic Missions in 1958 with a very grand and ambitious programme and with no other income or support except the trust in Allah.

Maulana Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari realized that it was essential that Muslim leaders and scholars should not be out of step with the progress of knowledge and this is why, first of all, he embodied in himself a multi – faceted education acquired through the dint of hard labour. He also felt that every person being educated in the Islamic sciences should have a grounding in modern fields of knowledge — notably philosophy, sociology and political science. It is here he decided to act as a pioneer in the field – he up the Aleemiyah Institute of Islamic Studies in 1964 to meet the need for creating a new breed of Islamic scholars.

Islamic Research and Publications Bureau is another marvel of his far – sightedness. In spite of his being so busy with multifarious preaching activities, he wrote his own monumental book — The Qur’anic Foundations and Structure of Muslim Society.

Maulana Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari analyzed that at present the Muslim world is permeated with a conservative outlook, any deviation from which, it is felt, automatically qualifies the deviater as being outside the fold of Islam. However, for some time now thinkers have been trying to re - interpret Islam in the light of the age in which they find themselves. Undoubtedly this is a difficult task and many of them found it necessary to discard some of the tenets of Islam during the process or to interpret them away, as can be clearly seen from some of the unorthodox re – interpretations of the last century or so. Maulana Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari stepped forward to meet this challenge and to correct this distortion. He stressed that Islam should be presented as a dynamic orthodoxy. The success of his outlook on Islam can be seen from the esteem in which he was held by the intellectual circles in many countries, Muslim and non-Muslim, and also from the impact he made on the youth of the day.

Maulana Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari was the upholder of Dynamic Orthodoxy as opposed to the Conservatism and Modernism with the slogan : Return to the Qur'an and Return to Muhammad (ﷺ) He was also a great spiritual leader for the Ummah. He was every inch a Muslim, not only in appearance but also in his actions and thoughts. With his towering height, his smile and enlightening speech presented to all who beheld and heard him a model of what a Muslim should be. He was very simple but generous in his life. He was the true follower of our Noble Prophet (ﷺ).

Maulana Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Fazlur Rahman Ansari returned to his Lord on Monday ‘I 1th Jamadi-al-Awwal 1394, corresponding 3rd June 1974, after spending his life working for the spiritual and moral uplift of different Muslim countries and communities in the Orient and occident. He was buried in Karachi, Pakistan, in the compound of Islamic Centre.

May the Mercy of Allah be on him. (Ameen)