Ghulam Ahmad Parwez (9 July 1903 – 24 February 1985) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar and qāriʾ (teacher of the Quran). He opposed the Sunni doctrine by interpreting Quranic themes in his own ways which are subject to wide controversy. 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 who has also claimed him to be a "Quranist" as Parwez rejected most hadiths..
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. 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.
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. Parwez argued that his insights from the Quran were in stark contrast to both capitalist and Marxist political ideologies. Before the creation of Pakistan, Parwez was recruited by Muhammad Ali Jinnah to help popularise the need for a separate homeland for Muslims in South Asia. He emphasised 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.
Ideas and contributions
Even though this right almost always came before any form of authority, Parwez believed in individual freedom. 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.
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. Parwez also pushed for the adoption of Islamic socialism, a political philosophy that seeks to reorganise society in line with Islamic ideals.
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. Parwez has been called a "Quranist" by Nadeem F. Paracha, as Parwez rejected most hadiths. In essence, the rejection of one well known hadeeth means the rejection of Sunnah. Further, Paracha claimed that Parwez approved praying Namaz in Urdu. 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 criticised due to wrong interpretation of Quran.
Ghulam Ahmed Perwez's ideas focused on systematically interpreting Quranic themes, and Muhammad Iqbal’s writings in the light of Islamic Reform with an aim to reorganise society on a Quranic basis. According to Parwez, the original purpose of Islam, is to free humanity from the oppressive rule of man-made systems of control. These man-made systems include Theocracy and Secular Democracy, both of which, are in contradiction to Quranic principles. A Quranic model of government will give the final authority to God Himself. Such a government allows only those laws which are within the bounds of Quran, and actively promotes Quranic principles. He elaborated on the definition of many Quranic principles, such as that of Zakat, which he defined as universal welfare. He also emphasised the importance of unity for Muslims: "The Qur’an is naturally opposed to sectarianism in deen and factionalism in politics. Sects and factions breed strife and dissension in the Ummah. According to the Qur'an, sectarianism is a form of shirk."
While Parwez did not reject Hadith completely, he gave primary importance to the Quran. He often cited examples in which disagreements and divisions between Muslims were caused by over-reliance on the Hadith, and determined that the only way for Muslims to come to an agreement, and be unified in Islam, will be to give primary importance to the Quran, and reject any Hadith which clearly contradicts the Quranic principles. He also blamed the mainstream scholars for allowing exploitative socioeconomic practices by deriving their authority from the Hadith, even in contradiction to the Quran. He also blamed the over-reliance on Hadith for introducing false historical narratives of the early period of Islam, also as a means of exploitation.
"Parwez upholds the view that Hadith and Sunna, as he defines them, do not constitute sources of legal authority in Islam (or what he calls al-Din). Instead, he forms the view that the Quran is fully self-sufficient in terms of its own interpretation and that Hadith and Sunna have in many instances eclipsed and distorted the actual Quranic teachings, including those that have legal import."
Support for Pakistan's independence Before the creation of Pakistan, Iqbal introduced Parwez to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who recruited him to help popularise the need for a separate homeland for Muslims. Jinnah appointed Parwez to edit the magazine, Tolu-e-Islam for the purpose of countering propaganda that was coming from some of the religious corners in support of Congress. Parwez's thesis was that the organisational model of the state is the basic engine which drives the implementation of the Quran, and like Muhammad in Medina, those wishing to practice Islam, as it is defined in the Quran, are required to live in a state which submits to the laws of God and not the laws of man.
During the struggle for independence, Abul Kalam Azad, a prominent Indian Nationalist, opposed Pakistan by arguing for the universalism of all religions; whereas, Parwez, countered Azad's arguments in support of Iqbal, Jinnah and the concept of Pakistan. Parwez stated that the consequences of universalism would be the formation of another sect, further dividing humanity. He cited the history of other such enterprises that attempted to fuse incompatible ideas into a singular ideology. He also pointed to the basic requirements for Muslims i.e. belief in one God and the prophet as His final messenger, precluded the possibility of any fusion. Moreover, Parwez highlighted contradictions between Azad’s earlier position in 1912, with the one he took to argue against the Muslim League.
After independence, Parwez disagreed with those claiming that Pakistan was supposed to be a secular state, as well as those claiming it was to be a theocracy. He claimed that both concepts are against Islam and Jinnah was opposed to both systems, following his "conversion" by Iqbal. Parwez cited speeches of Jinnah, before and after independence, in which Jinnah clarified that the form of democracy he was seeking was that of Medinah under the prophet.
Islam and individual liberty Parwez argued that the Quran places such strong emphasis on individual freedom that it almost overrides all forms of authority, to the point where no person has the right to compel another person to obey them, citing the verse 3:79 in support of this view. Consistent with this, Parwez "adamantly opposed" slavery. He claimed that it had no justifiable basis according to the Quran and that the practice had been banned since the dawn of Islam, contrary to the opinions of his opponents who officially called for slavery to be legalised in the newly created Pakistan. Parwez argued that the words used in the Quran to refer to slavery should be correctly read in the past-tense, thereby giving a completely different meaning to the verses used by his opponents to justify slavery. He stated: "Whatever happened in subsequent history was the responsibility of Muslims, and not of the Quran." W.G. Clarence-Smith includes Parwez among the "South Asian Shock Troops of Abolition," a line of rationalist thinkers who took the position that slavery is forbidden by the Quran. This position was first taken by Syed Ahmad Khan. According to Clarence-Smith, Parwez was "the most significant figure to carry the radical torch after independence in 1947."
Regarding the practical methods for the abolition of slavery, Parwez clarified that because the local economy was based on slave labor, society had to be weaned off of slavery gradually. He pointed out that the main source of slaves was war, as prisoners of war were usually enslaved. So when the Quran banned the enslavement of prisoners of war, it effectively closed the door on the future of slavery. Furthermore, by highly encouraging the emancipation of slaves, the existing slaves in society were gradually freed.
Parwez also called for monogamy and rejected polygamy under normal demographic circumstances. He argued that due to various forms of discrimination suffered by women, their gender has developed an "inferiority complex", which is enforced and exploited by men. He claimed that the Quran liberates women from their historical "bondage" by affirming their independent existence and equality in all aspects of society that matter, leaving only a few biological differences between the genders. Parwez cited Quranic verses to show that although women have certain responsibilities emphasised, such as the upbringing of children, they are free to earn their own living just like men, and unlike men, anything they earn is for them alone, while the man's earnings are to be shared by the household.
Religion vs. "Deen" Parwez argued that Islam challenged the validity, as well as the very conception of ‘religion’. This idea is considered a classical claim which had more recently been popularised by Muhammad Iqbal, when Parwez undertook its systematic defense in his work 'Islam: A Challenge to Religion,' where he argues that Islam is a "protest against all religions in the old sense of the term". Ismail al-Faruqi welcomed it as "representative statement of Muslim modernist thought."