Introduction

The eminent Islamic scholar, Amin Ahsan Islahi, 93, who died in Lahore, Pakistan, on 15 December 1997, will long be remembered for his lasting contribution to Qur’anic studies, especially for his approach based and evolved around the concept of order and coherence in the contents of the divine book. Historically, the idea of coherence in the Qur’an has always been present in the writings of various scholars, both old and new, but in modern times, it was Farahi, the renowned scholar and teacher of Islahi, who wrote systematically on this subject while adding new dimensions to it. Amin Ahsan Islahi, an outstanding pupil of Farahi, and later a principal of Madrasah Al-Islah, the educational institution associated with Shibli and Farahi, learned and mastered Farahi’s concept of internal order and coherence in the Qur’an and became the most important proponent of this school. Where as the teacher had left a few isolated writings – mostly in Arabic and beyond the access of common readers – his illustrious pupil developed, elucidated and explained the subject through his monumental nine volume Urdu Tafsir, ‘Tadabbur-i-Qur’an’ (Reflection on the Qur’an).