Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Abdul Majid Daryabadi (16 March 1892 – 6 January 1977) was an Islamic scholar, philosopher, writer, critic, researcher, journalist and exegete of the Quran in Indian subcontinent in the 20th century. He was as one of the most influential Indian Muslim scholar and was much concerned with modernism and comparative religions and orientalism in India. In his early life, he became sceptical of religion and called himself a "rationalist". For almost nine years, he remained away from religion but repented and became a devout Muslim. He was actively associated with the Khilafat Movement, Royal Asiatic Society, Aligarh Muslim University, Nadwatul Ulama, Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy and several other leading Islamic and literary organisations. He was disciple of Ashraf Ali Thanwi and Hussain Ahmed Madani.

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. He was influenced by Ashraf Ali Thanwi to write a Tafsir and then he wrote a famous Tafsir in English first then in Urdu named Tafseer-e-Majidi. He wanted to purify the Muslims thinking to understand and implement true Islamic teachings and free from "foreign" and "un-Islamic" elements and to review the decision of previous scholars before blindly accepting them. 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.