Sayyid Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi: Life and Legacy - Abdel Kader Choughley

The Volume presents a comprehensive study of the life and works of Sayyid Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi (1913-1999). Sayyid Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi is seen as an important scholar in the modern Islamic resurgence who has made significant contributions to contemporary Islamic thought. He was one of the few Indian ‘ulema to have taken seriously the dynamic role of Islam in a multireligious society. The book discusses the early life, family and education of the scholar and his major writings that are concerned with the themes of the primacy of the Qur’ān and the sunnah as harbingers of world civilisation, islāh (reform) and tajdīd (revival) as anchors of Islamic resurgence, the methodological approach of da’wah, Islam and the West, and Islamic order in an Indian setting. With quotations and references from published translations of his Urdu and Arabic works including his autobiography, it details the importance of his coherent approach to the diversity of issues in the twentieth century and the importance of his autobiography Kārwān in this context. It deals with his participative role in the Indian mainstream activities by examining the social and spiritual crises facing Muslims. With an overview of contemporary Islamic movements it illustrates Sayyid Nadwi’s major contribution towards the dynamic of the revivalist trends.

Abdul Kader Choughley, the South African-based Islamic scholar, has made important contributions to the study of Islamic revivalism in South Asia. His multivolume series on the life and legacy of Sayyid Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi has been widely acclaimed in the academic world. Another noteworthy work is his comprehensive study of the tafsīr tradition in South Asia.