Wahiduddin Khan

Wahiduddin Khan (1 January 1925 – 21 April 2021), known with the honorific "Maulana", was an Indian Islamic scholar and peace activist and author known for having written a commentary on the Quran and having translated it into contemporary English.

He was listed in "the 500 Most Influential Muslims" of the world.

He was also the founder of the Centre for Peace and Spirituality (CPS).

Khan was born a family of Pathan landlords in Village Badharia, in district Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India in 1925.

Khan lost his father at the age of four and was raised by his mother Zaibunnisa and his uncle, Sufi Abdul Hamid Khan.

He received his education at a traditional seminary, Madrastaul Islahi, in Sarai Mir (Azamgarh) in 1938.

Khan spent six years completing his alim course and graduated in 1944.

He began airing his differences with the Jama'at's ideology and policies even while still a senior leader of the Jama'at, but as these differences began to grow, he decided to quit the organization in 1962 after serving it for ten years.

He was also a member of the central Majlis-e-Shura of Jamaat-e-Islami, but due to ideological differences, he withdrew from the party in 1963 and published his critique under the name of Tabir Ki Ghalti (Error Of Interpretation).

He was married to Sabi'a Khatoon.

His commitment to the Jamaat helped him move up the Jama'at's hierarchy.

He was appointed, in a few years after, as a member of its Central Committee.

He wrote regularly for the Jama'at's Urdu journal.

Khan did not remain for long with the Jama'at, as he thought that the Jama'at's agenda was not only impractical but not in keeping with what Islam expected of the Muslims of India.

He came to the conclusion that the Jama'at-e Islami's political approach was ill-suited to the needs and conditions of the Muslim minority in India.

He established the Islamic Centre in New Delhi in 1970.

In 1993, he asked the Muslims to relinquish claims over Babri Masjid site.

Khan had also embarked on a peace march through Maharashtra along with Sushil Kumar (Jain monk) and Chidanand Saraswati post the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

Khan wrote over 200 books on several aspects of Islam and established the Centre for Peace and Spirituality to promote interfaith dialogue.

Khan received the Demiurgus Peace International Award, and India's third-highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, in January 2000; the National Citizens' Award, presented by Mother Teresa and the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award (2009).

He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honour, in January 2021.

He died in Delhi from COVID-19 complications in April 2021 at the age of 96.

In 2001, Khan established the 'Centre for Peace and Spirituality’.

Khan launched the 'Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Peace Foundation.'

In his book The Ideology of Peace, Khan writes that history abounds with preachers of peace.

He says that in centuries no revolution in the true sense of the word has been brought about based on peace.

He writes that for peace, the human need is not enough to make him exercise restraint and remain peaceable.

Man needs an ideology that convinces him at the conscious level of the necessity to keep the peace at all times.

According to Khan, this ideology is the one presented in Islam.

In his book The Prophet of Peace, Khan writes that the greatest fallacy entertained by people of a militant cast of minds is that they think true peace is accompanied by justice.

Khan objects to the mentality of "peace without justice is no peace at all."

Khan says that the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad provides a telling example of this wisdom.

Khan argues that the Hudaybiya treaty was a biased and unjust peace treaty based on it is's terms.

However, Muhammad considered it due to a 10-year no-war pact.

It took the form of a written pledge from his opponents that they would not initiate any hostilities against him and that they would let him and his followers live in peace in Madinah.

According to Khan, the acceptance of the Hudaybiyah treaty resulted into the success of Muhammad's mission.

Khan writes that justice can only be within discussion after peace is exercised.

He writes, "Asking for justice before peace is like placing the cart before the horse."

Khan founded the Quran Foundation (under the aegis of CPS International) on April 2, 2015.

The aim of the foundation was to translate and disseminate copies of the Quran and Islamic material globally by promoting religious understanding amongst people to reveal 'as it is’ as a religion of peace.