Dr. Israr Ahmed

Israr Ahmed (26 April 1932 – 14 April 2010; MA, MBBS) was a Pakistani Islamic theologian,

philosopher, and Islamic scholar who was followed particularly in South Asia as well as

by South Asian Muslims in the Middle East, Western Europe, and North America.

He was the founder of Tanzeem-e-Islami, an offshoot of the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Dr. Israr Ahmed has written and published 60 books on different aspects of Islam

and religion, nine of which were translated into English.

Dr. Israr Ahmed was born in Hisar, a province of East Punjab of British Indian Empire,

on 26 April 1932. His father was a civil servant in the British Government who relocated

his family from Hisar to Montgomery, now Sahiwal, Punjab Province of Pakistan.

After graduating from a local high school, Dr. Israr Ahmed moved to Lahore to attend the

King Edward Medical University in 1950. He received his MBBS degree from King Edward

Medical University in 1954 and began practising medicine. In addition, he obtained his

Masters in Islamic Studies from the University of Karachi in 1965.

Dr. Israr Ahmed worked briefly for Muslim Student's Federation in the Independence

Movement and, following the creation of Pakistan in 1947, for the Islami Jami`yat-e-Talaba

and then in 1950 joined Jamaat-e-Islami led by Abul Ala Maududi, but left the party when

the latter opted for participating in electoral politics in 1957. Dr. Israr Ahmed resigned

from the Jamaat-e-Islami in April 1957 because of its involvement in national politics,

which he believed was irreconcilable with the revolutionary methodology adopted by the

Jama'at in the pre-1947 period. His interest in Islam and philosophy grew further and he

subsequently moved to Karachi, Sindh Province in the 1960s. where he enrolled in Karachi

University.