Dr Israr Ahmad is now no more but he left a name that will always be associated with rendering eloquent services to the Qur’ān and its introduction at mass level through his “Daroos-e-Qur’ān”, lectures, cassettes, Friday sermons, presenting in an easy and understandable language the meanings of the entire Qur’ān during Taraweeh in Ramadhan for years together, addressing mass meetings of hundreds and thousands of people in India and Pakistan and writing Tafseer-e-Qur’ān in fluent Urdu and English both for the common man and the students at large.
This all was possible for him to accomplish because of the fact that he was a Da’ee Ilallah through and through with all its inherent qualities of heart and mind. He was born in 1932, was an active Muslim Youth during Pakistan Movement and then joined Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, Pakistan and became its vibrant president in early fifties. That paved his way to become an active member of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP) and moved to Lahore, the hub of Pakistan politics.
Jamaat participated in the Provincial Elections of Punjab but could not do well. This created a controversy whether or not JIP should participate in elections. To resolve the issue an all Pakistan Conference of Jamaat’s arkaan (members) was held at Machigot in Rahimyar Khan District of Punjab in a ginning factory in February 1958. A total of 1035 arkaan [members of JIP] attended this meeting, including 15 from East Pakistan to decide whether JIP should participate in elections or not? Fortunately, I was one of them. The meeting continued for five days during which Dr. Israr Ahmad opposed the move and presented his paper that took three hours undisturbed to complete. Maulana Maudoodi replied with logical arguments and presented in six hours his viewpoint and a threadbare discussion of the history of JIP till that time and soundly proved that participation in elections was the right course for the country. Out of 1035, arkaan 1015 supported Maulana’s viewpoint and a resolution was adopted to continue the methodology that JIP was pursuing towards the change of leadership through electoral process.
Dr Israr Ahmad differed and resigned from JIP along with Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi and nine other members of JIP. Later on he published his speech of Machigot Ijtima and launched Tanzeem-e-Islami, Pakistan (TIP) and published magazines like Meesaque, Hikmat-e Qur’ān and many others to augment his movement to serve the cause of the Qur’ān.
He used to visit the USA on regular basis but stopped subsequently after the unfortunate tragedy of 9/11. He started an extended organisation of TIP as TINA in the USA which is alive still in some pockets of this country.
He had a great desire that I should join TINA but I asked him: “Do you have any programme for the USA?” He replied in the negative. I, therefore, declined respectfully. However, I am a regular subscriber to his papers and periodicals that help a lot in understanding the on-going Islamic movements in the subcontinent.
One may differ from his political views but his contribution to disseminate the message of the Qur’ān in Pakistan, and around the world is a record by itself. The young generation can reach to the message of the Qur’ān directly through his various efforts and eloquent cassettes in different languages of the world.
His legacies will be paramount for centuries to come. He has left behind a team of trained and trusted workers like Dr Sami Ali and his entire family which he groomed patiently for the Iqamah of Allah’s Deen in Pakistan and elsewhere in the world.
May Allah pardon his sins, if any, multiply reward of his good deeds manifold, place his soul in Jannatul Firdaus and give Tawfeeq to Hafiz A’kif Sayeed who is now the current Amir of TIP to continue his legendary work incessantly and try to cooperate with his parent body, the JIP, to get his agenda of Iqamatuddeen fulfilled. It was his earnest desire and he put me to that task to materialise in early eighties by developing a working cooperation between the two movements but it could not materialise at that time.
The field is still wide open in the context of Pakistan and Hafiz A’kif should explore every opportunity to attain that end. This is the need of time.