Physician, Qur’an teacher and founder of Tanzeem-e-Islami (1932–2010)
Life and education
- Born 26 April 1932 in Hisar, East Punjab; died in Lahore on 14 April 2010 and was buried after a funeral in Model Town, Lahore.
- MBBS from King Edward Medical College, Lahore (1954), and MA in Islamic Studies from the University of Karachi (1965).
- Active in student Islamic movements and then Jamaat-e-Islami, which he left in 1957 over its entry into electoral politics.
Sources: Dawn — Dr Israr Ahmed dies (2010) · Tanzeem-e-Islami — the founder
Khidmaat — services
A life given to the Qur’an
In 1971 he gave up a thriving medical practice to devote himself full-time to a movement for the revival of Islam through the Qur’an (Tanzeem-e-Islami).
Sources: Tanzeem-e-Islami — the founder
Institutions he founded
- Markazi Anjuman Khuddam-ul-Qur’an, Lahore (1972) — its Karachi branch (1986) runs several Quran academies and institutes.
- Tanzeem-e-Islami (1975).
- Tahreek-e-Khilafat Pakistan (1991).
Sources: Tanzeem-e-Islami — the founder · Quran Academy — Anjuman Khuddam-ul-Quran · Dawn — Dr Israr Ahmed dies (2010)
Teaching the Qur’an on television
He first appeared on Pakistan Television in 1978 in Al-Kitab, followed by Alif Lam Meem, Rasool-e-Kamil, Umm-ul-Kitab and Al-Huda — which Tanzeem-e-Islami calls the most popular religious programme in PTV’s history and which, Dawn says, made him a household name in the early 1980s. In 2006 Arab News noted his regular appearances on PTV, QTV and Peace TV.
Sources: Tanzeem-e-Islami — the founder · Dawn — Dr Israr Ahmed dies (2010) · Arab News (2006)
Books
He wrote more than 60 books in Urdu on Islam and Pakistan, nine of them translated into English and other languages. His 1967 tract on reviving faith as the basis of an Islamic renaissance is available in English as Islamic Renaissance: The Real Task Ahead.
Sources: Tanzeem-e-Islami — the founder · Dawn — Dr Israr Ahmed dies (2010)
Recognition and reach
Awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 1981 (though he did not wish to receive it personally). Arab News described a large following in Pakistan, India and the Gulf.
Sources: Tanzeem-e-Islami — the founder · Arab News — obituary (2010)
Succession
He stepped down as Ameer of Tanzeem-e-Islami in October 2002 because of ill health; his nominee Hafiz Akif Saeed served as Ameer until August 2020, followed by Shujauddin Shaikh.
Sources: Tanzeem-e-Islami — the founder
Affiliation
Tanzeem-e-Islami describes him, in Qur’anic exegesis, as “a firm traditionalist of the genre of Maulana Mehmood Hassan Deobandi”. The sources consulted do not describe him as a graduate of a Deobandi seminary; his formal education was in medicine and Islamic studies.
Sources: Tanzeem-e-Islami — the founder