Abdul Majid Daryabadi: A Charismatic Mufassir of the Holy Quran

"Abdul Majid Daryabadi was a famous writer, critic, Islamic scholar, researcher, journalist, and man of letters, man of high moral values, Islamic philosopher and mufassir of the Holy Qur‟an in Indian subcontinent in 20th century. He worked for the betterment of the Muslim nation. Throughout his academic career he edited the Urdu weekly ``Sidq-e-Jaded”, which was acclaimed in the Indo-Pak subcontinent for its inspiring message and stylistic features. 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. In 1967, he got 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. His life and works, especially his contribution to the study of Tafsir enriched our knowledge, developed our ideas and intellectual thoughts. He had a good friendship with devout Muslims like Akbar Allahabadi, Maulana Muhammad Ali, Maulana Syed Hossain Ahmad Madani and Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi. Maulana Daryabadi was influenced by Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi to write a Tafsir and then he wrote a famous Tafsir in English first then in Urdu named Tafsir‟ul Qura‟nil Hakim. In his Tafsir, he quoted from Bible and other religious books compared and established Islam as the best of all. He also quoted in his Tafsir from other famous and recognized Arabic Tafsirs and discussed in the light of modern concept. It had been written during the Second World War as great as others in that time and he became a charismatic mufassir of the Holy Qur‟an. 

Keywords: Life and Family, His Education, Prolific writer; Views and Thoughts, Works and Contribution, A Charismatic Mufassir of the Holy Qur‟an, the Evaluation of his Methodology.