Professor Fazlur Rahman

Abstract

On Dhu al Hijjah 12, 1408 AH, July 26, 1988 Professor Fazlur Rahmanbreathed his last as a result of post-cardiac surgery complications at the BillingsHospital in Chicago. At the time of his death he was the Harold H. SwiftDistinguished Service Professor of Islamic Thought at the University ofChicago where he had taught for about two decades. Born in Punjab (Pakistan)in 1332 AH / 1919 AC, Professor Fazlur Rahman was educated at theuniversities of Punjab and Oxford. He also taught at Durham (England) andMcGill (Canada) and served as director, Central Institute of Islamic Researchin Pakistan.A prolific writer and an outstanding scholar of Islam in the traditionof Mohammad Iqbal, Dr. Fazlur Rahman influenced a whole generation ofyoung Muslim intellectuals, students, and probably more importantly, hisWestern colleagues in the field of Islamic Studies. Although consideredcontroversial on certain issues, he was a scholar of encyclopedic breadth inthe true tradition of classical Islamic scholarship. His interests ranged fromthe classical period to modem times; from the Qur’an and hadrh to$qh,philosophy and science; and from education and history to contemporarysocio-political developments in the Muslim World. Throughout his career,however, his first and foremost loyalty and devotion had been to the Qur’an.He was a brilliant student and an extraordinarily perceptive commentatorof the Qur’an. He lived, wrote, and thought for most of his life within aframework that was defined by his love and study of the Qur’an.His was a mind of a logician and a philosopher and a heart of a devoutMuslim. His writings on Islam were not only the product of a meticulousscholar with great intellectual rigor and analytical skills but also that of apassionate and devoted Muslim who was deeply concerned about the spiritual,moral and material well-being of his fellow Muslims. He believed in thefundamental importance of intellectual renaissance as the most important prerequisitefor Islamic revival. A careful examination of his writings revealsa vigorous mind working in the highest traditions of human scholarship ofEast and West and providing the intellectual and moral underpinnings for ...