Quran alone , Sir Syed (Sayyid) Ahmad Khan [1817-1898]
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A pioneer of Islamic modernism in India, Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, an educational, political and religious reformer was the major formulator of the concept of the "Two-Nation Theory" among Muslims of India in the latter half of the 19th century. Born in a leading family of Syeds in Delhi in 1817, Syed Ahmad was raised in the religious and cultural style of the Mughal literati and scholastic tradition associated with Shah Wali-Ullah. During the 1857 Revolt, he remained a staunch supporter of British rule, but afterwards published a sharp critique of British policies and attitudes. The most significant of his literary works of this period were his pamphlets "Loyal Mohammadans of India" and "Cause of Indian Revolt."
To reconcile Islamic tenets with the principles of natural law, he refused to accept the orthodox methods of reasoning. The Quran, he said, was the sole authority in all matters of judgment. He enunciated the principle that he would accept only the explanation of the Quran by reference to the Quran itself, not to any tradition or the opinion of any scholar.
His natural theology sought a correspondence between the Quran, as the "word of God", and nature, as "the work of God". These having one Creator cannot contradict each other. Revelation and natural law were thus identical.
In the Ninth Principle of his tafsir, he stated, "there could be nothing in the Qurann that is against the principles on which nature works? as far as the supernatural is concerned, I state it clearly that they are impossible, just like it is impossible for the Word of God to be false? I know that some of my brothers would be angry to and they would present verses of the Quran that mention miracles and supernatural events but we will listen to them without annoyance and ask could there could not be another meaning of these verses that is consonant with Arabic idiom and the Quranic usage? And if they could prove that it is not possible, then we will accept that our principle is wrong? but until they do so, we will insist that God does not do anything that is against the principles of nature that He has Himself established."
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