Foreign thinker
Hamid al-Din Farahi
Hamid al-Din FarahiQuranic exegesis, Islamic sciences, and religious thoughtIndian1863–1930
"Every surah of the Quran has a specific order and a single purpose that connects all of its parts together."
Life and Thought
Hamid al-Din Farahi was a Quranic exegete, Islamic thinker, and one of the most prominent Quran scholars of the Indian subcontinent in the modern era. He is especially known for his theory of the "Nazm of the Quran," which emphasizes the structural coherence of Quranic chapters and verses, and he influenced modern approaches to Quranic interpretation in the subcontinent.
Hamid al-Din Farahi was born in 1863 in Farahi, Uttar Pradesh, India. He began his education in traditional Islamic sciences and also studied Arabic, Persian, and English. He learned from prominent scholars of his time and later devoted himself to teaching and research in Arabic literature, Quranic exegesis, and religious studies.
Farahi's most important intellectual contribution was his theory of the "Nazm of the Quran," which emphasized the internal coherence of the Quran, thematic relationships among verses, and the organized structure of chapters. He argued that each surah has a central theme or "pillar" around which its verses are arranged. This approach was later developed further by his student and intellectual successor, Amin Ahsan Islahi.
Among Farahi's important works are "Mufradat al-Quran," "Dalail al-Nizam," and "al-Takmil fi Usul al-Ta'wil." He also conducted extensive studies on the Arabic language of the Quran, methods of interpretation, and the relationship between the Quran and Sunnah.
Hamid al-Din Farahi died on November 11, 1930. His ideas about the structure and coherence of the Quran continue to receive attention among contemporary Quran scholars, and he is regarded as an influential figure in the development of modern Quranic interpretation in the Indian subcontinent.