Senior Civil Servant, Department of Interior Ministry, Government of India and later, Department of Home and Interior Affairs, Karachi, Pakistan
Known for
Islam: A Challenge to Religion; Exposition of the Holy Qur'an; The Quranic System of Sustenance; What Is Islam
Ghulam Ahmad Parwez (Punjabi: غلام احمد پرویز; 1903–1985) was a well-known teacher of the Quran in India and Pakistan.[2] He posed a challenge to the established Sunni doctrine by interpreting Quranic themes with a logical approach.[3][4] The educated populace held Parwez in high esteem, despite his encounter with numerous criticisms from conservative Islamic scholars throughout his tenure. The work 'Islam: A Challenge to Religion' is widely acknowledged as one of the most significant works in the history of Pakistan, according to Nadeem F. Paracha.[5]
Early and personal life
Parwez was born on 9 July 1903 in Batala, Punjab, in British India. He migrated to Pakistan in 1947. He delved into the holy book of Islam and other religious texts. In 1934, he obtained a master's degree from the Punjab University.[6][7] His ideas, based on modern science, helped people better understand Islam. He was introduced to Muhammad Ali Jinnah by Muhammad Iqbal. He was appointed to edit the magazine Tolu-e-Islam, which was established to counteract the propaganda emanating from certain religious circles that favour Congress. He died aged 81.[6]
Career
Parwez was appointed to the Central Secretariat of the Government of India in 1927, and became an important figure in the Home Department. When Pakistan became independent, he stayed in the same job in the government and retired early as an Assistant Secretary (Class I gazetted officer) in 1955. He spent all his time doing his job.[8] Parwez argued that his insights from the Quran were in stark contrast to both capitalist and Marxist political ideologies.[9][non-primary source needed] Before the creation of Pakistan, Parwez was recruited by Muhammad Ali Jinnah to help popularize the need for a separate homeland for Muslims in South Asia.[10]
He emphasized the importance of the government's structure in adhering to Islamic ideals. The principles of Islam, as enumerated in the Quran, require that individuals reside in a nation that upholds God's commands, rather than their own.[11][12][non-primary source needed]
Even though this right almost always came before any form of authority, Parwez believed in individual freedom.[13] Parwez, in line with this, strongly opposed slavery, arguing that it lacked any legal justification according to the Quran. Further, he said that Islam challenged the truth, validity, and very idea of religion.[14][15]
Parwez assessed the supporting evidence for the suppositions contained in the Quran passages that are often associated with awe-inspiring happenings, celestial beings, and jinns, weighing it all objectively, without attempting to invoke the supernatural.[16][17] Parwez also pushed for the adoption of Islamic socialism, a political philosophy that seeks to reorganize society in line with Islamic ideals.
[18]
He argued that socialism is the most efficient means to uphold the principles of property, justice, and the distribution of wealth, as outlined in the Qur'an. In addition, he said that the Prophet was a prophet who wanted to stop capitalists and the corrupt bureaucracy of Byzantium and Persia from exploiting Quraish merchants although Quraish merchants had little contact with the traders from the then two supreme powers. He advocated the implementation of scientific and agricultural reforms to improve economic development.
[19] Parwez has been called a "quranist" by Nadeem F. Paracha,[20] as Parwez rejected most hadiths.[21] In essence, the rejection of one well known hadeeth means the rejection of Sunnah. Further, Paracha claimed that Parwez approved praying Namaz in Urdu.[6] Even while Parwez was alive, his opponents spread these claims. In 1960 more than 600 Islamic Scholars issued a fatwa declaring Ghulam Ahmad Perwez Kafir due to his views on Quran and Hadith. Ghulam Ahmed Perwez was also criticized due to wrong interpretation of Quran.[22]
^G.A. Parwez. "Political System Part II: Quranic System". Islam: A Challenge to Religion. pp. 230–247. Archived from the original on 5 November 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
^Paracha, Nadeem (23 July 2015). "The volatile fusion: Origins, rise & demise of the 'Islamic Left'". Dawn.com. Dawn News. Retrieved 27 August 2015. Parvez was a prominent 'Quranist', or an Islamic scholar who insisted that for the Muslims to make progress in the modern world, Islamic thought and laws should be entirely based on modern interpretations of the Qu'ran.
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