Introduction:

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi


Javed Ahmad Ghamidi is a Pakistani Muslim scholar, educationist, linguistics, author of Islamic books, Quran scholar, Muslim philosopher, Theologian, intellectual, poet, and educational consultant. Mr. Ghamidi is also the president of the famous Islamic institute “Al-Mawrid”. Recently, he also introduced the Ghamidi center of Islamic Learning in the US, Texas, Dallas. He is famous for his unique and distinctive views on Islam which are different from the traditional Islamic thoughts

Childhood and Early Life:

Mr. Javed Ahmad Ghamidi was born on April 7, 1952, in a district of Punjab, Sahiwal, Pakistan. He was born in the small village of Sahiwal called “Jiwan Shah”. The Father of Javed Ghamidi was “Muhammad Tufayl Junyadi”, who was in the field of agriculture and also associated with medicine to some extent. His father was a good follower of Islam. 

His name “Ghamidi” has a different story which he explained in his book “Muqamat”.

Ghamidi has two siblings. He got his early education from Islamia High School, Pakpattan. He also got an education in Arabic and Persian language. He also studied Quran and split his time in traditional and modern education in his childhood.

Education and Islamic Research:

After 10 years of education in Pakpattan, he came to Lahore in 1967. He got graduated from the Government College of Lahore in English Literature and philosophy because his interests were in those subjects. 

He used to analyze the research of a scholar of the Quran, Hamiddudin Farahi. He also met with Amin Ahmad Islahi who was the pacesetter of the Farahi’s school of thought. When he met Amin Ahmad Islahi, he was the man of Philosophy but when he returned after meeting him, he was the man of religion. 

He also associated with Abu-al-’la Maududi, founder of Jammat e Islami. But Islahi’s views have a deep impact and influence on his life. He started researching various Islamic disciplines. He starting researching Quran’s exegesis. 

Ghamidi’s school of thought and his views:

He described his conclusions about Islam and all about Islamic Sharia in his book, Al-Mizan. He tried to describe the pure form of religion in that book. Mizan is free of Tassawuff, fiqh, or any traditional views. 

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi is famous for his non-traditional approaches to deal with Islamic research. He has very unique opinions on many Islamic issues. He put non-traditional views by using the traditional methods of research which really impress many people. His conclusions are very similar to the Islamic modernists. This is the reason why many Islamic scholars call liberal. Some of his unique views are given below:

Male-Female interaction:

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi has a very different approach on this matter because many traditional scholars are so strict and strongly condemn the Non-mehram(strangers) Male-Female interaction. But Ghamidi always put forward his reasoning thoughts according to Quran and Sunnah and says that Hijab is nowhere in Islam.

Islam’s sources:

Ghamidi says that Islam has based only on the Quran and Sunnah. If anyone is not in Quran and Sunnah, it can’t be part of Deen or Islam. He explains that the Quran and Sunnah are the only sources because we have received them from Ijma and Tawatur of the Muslim nation. Many Muslim scholars say that Ahadith are also a source of Islam. He said that Ahadith are only the reportings of people about Prophet Muhammad, we can accept them but after researching them that whether they are truly associated with Prophet Muhammad or not. 

Democracy:

Many religious people say that Democracy is the invention of the west and it is not an Islamic way to decide the ruler of the country. Unlike people, Ghamidi says that Democracy is the true teaching of Islam. His views on democracy are based on Quran(42:38); “Amruhum Shura Benahum”. 

Jihad:

Ghamidi says that the Quran’s teachings bout the war or Jihad were only to the Prophet Muhammad and specific people of that time. He says that after the prophet Muhammad there is no concept of waging war against the non-muslims just for the sake of spreading Islam. Jihad is only valid if all the other measures are failed. Jihad can only be implemented by an established Islamic state. 

Human’s moral values:

Mr. Javed Ahmad Ghamidi is a very gentle and cool personality and he also encourages his listeners and readers to become gentle and adopt some moral values in their lives. He states that good moral values are the second biggest requirement for Muslims. A human being should have a gentle or clean attitude towards God and God’s creatures.

There are also many other opinions of Ghamidi which go against traditional Islamic speakers. You can analyze his views by exploring his YouTube channel, Ghamidi center of Islamic learning. 

Ghamidi was a part of Pakistan’s council of Islamic ideology but he resigned in September 2006 because he wasn’t satisfied with his fellow Ulema. 

Ghamidi’s appearance:

Ghamidi has described his opinions in his books and also regularly appears in many Television Programs. Ghamidi’s audience is also very unique like him and they tend to avoid traditional Islamic Ulema and the western liberal and educated elite. 

The list of Ghamidi’s programs is given below:

  • Ilm o Hikmat, Ghamid k saath on Dunya News

  • Ghamidi on Geo TV

  • Al-Mawrid video setup

  • Live with Ghamidi on Aaj TV

  • Ghamidi Center of Islamic learning(YT channel)

  • Weekly lectures on Facebook pages and Official websites

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi was warded Sitar-e-Imtiaz in 2009.

Although there is a huge criticism of him, he always says that this can never become a barrier to complete his objectives.