Fazlur Rahman

Fazlur Rahman Malik, commonly known as Fazlur Rahman, was a Pakistani modernist scholar and Islamic philosopher. Recognized as a leading liberal reformer within Islam, he focused on educational reform and promoting independent reasoning (*ijtihad*). His work attracted both significant interest and criticism in Muslim-majority countries. His reformist ideas led to protests by over a thousand clerics, *faqihs*, *muftis*, and teachers in Pakistan, ultimately resulting in his exile. After teaching in the UK and Canada, he was appointed head of Pakistan’s Central Institute of Islamic Research in 1962. While respected among Islamic reformers, his ideas drew strong criticism from conservative scholars. Political opponents capitalized on this dissent, leading to his departure from Pakistan in 1968. He relocated to the United States, where he taught at UCLA and later at the University of Chicago. He died in Chicago in 1988.