Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Abdul Majid Daryabadi
Personal details
Born(1892-03-16)16 March 1892
Dariyabad, Barabanki British India
Died6 January 1977(1977-01-06) (aged 84)
Barabanki, India
Political partyKhilafat Movement
Parent
  • Abdul Qadir (father)
Alma mater
Personal
DenominationSunni
JurisprudenceHanafi
CreedMaturidi
Main interest(s)Comparative religion, Tafsir, Biography, Orientalism, Modernism, Islamic philosophy, Psychology, travelogue, Sufism, Journalism
Notable work(s)
Senior posting
Disciple ofAshraf Ali Thanwi
Awards

Abdul Majid Daryabadi (16 March 1892 – 6 January 1977) was an Islamic scholar, philosopher, writer, critic, researcher, journalist and exegete of the Quran, who was active in the Indian subcontinent in the 20th century.[1][2] As one of the most influential Indian Muslim scholars, he was much concerned with modernism, comparative religions and orientalism in India.[3] In his early life, he became sceptical of religion and called himself a "rationalist". For almost nine years, he kept away from religion but eventually changed his maind and became a devout Muslim.[4] He was actively associated with the Khilafat Movement, the Royal Asiatic Society, Aligarh Muslim University, Nadwatul Ulama, Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy and several other leading Islamic and literary organisations.[5] He was a disciple of Ashraf Ali Thanwi and Hussain Ahmed Madani.

Throughout his academic career he edited the Urdu weekly Sidq-e-Jaded, which was acclaimed in the Indian subcontinent for its inspiring message and stylistic qualities.[2] He continued to edit the journal until his death. He had a unique style of writing which was expressive and tinged with humor and sarcasm.[2] Under the influence of Ashraf Ali Thanwi he authored a Tafsir which was to become famous, the Tafseer-e-Majidi, written first in English and then in Urdu.[2] He wanted to purify Muslim thinking to make it possible to understand and implement true Islamic teachings, free from "foreign" and "un-Islamic" elements, and to review the decisions of previous scholars instead of accepting them blindly.[3] In 1967, he received the Arabic Scholar Award from the Government of India. In 1975, the Aligarh Muslim University awarded him a Doctorate in Literature. He died in January 1977.[2]

  1. ^ Datta, Amaresh (1987). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: A-Devo. Sahitya Akademi. p. 3. ISBN 978-81-260-1803-1.
  2. ^ a b c d e Mabood 2019, p. 34.
  3. ^ a b Mabood 2019, p. 55.
  4. ^ Mushtaq & Shah 2017, p. 32.
  5. ^ Mushtaq, Aroosha; Shah, Muhammad Sultan (1 July 2017). "Daryabadī's Atheism and Revivalism of Islam". Islamic Studies Research Journal Abḥāth. 2 (7): 32. ISSN 2521-067X. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License Archived 16 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine.