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 [read this] 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."

Chiragh Ali a staunch supporter of Sayyid Ahmad Khan was the Aligarh movement's most outspoken critic of traditional Islamic scholarship and legal stagnation. He examined the traditional sources of the Islamic law and methods to overcome the rigidity of the traditional theologians. Rejecting all classical sources of jurisprudence except the Quran, he constructed a new basis for the law. To him, "the only law of Muhammad or Islam is the Quran, and only the Quran..."

He engaged in a vigorous defense of Islam against the criticism of Christian missionaries and other Europeans, but he did so on the basis of an analysis and interpretation of the Quran rather than by defending existing Muslim parctices.

For Chiragh Ali, "the fact that Muhammad did not compile a law, civil or canonical, for the conduct of the believers, nor did he enjoin them to do so, shows that he left to the believers in general to frame any code, civil or canon law, and to found systems which would harmonize with the times, and suit the political and social changes going on around them."

Egyptian reformer and pioneer of Islamic modernism and nationalism. Abduh argued, that traditional Islam faced serious challenge by the modern, rational and scientific thought. But he did not believe that the faith of Islam in its pure and permanent core of norms clashed with science. Instead he asserted that the faith and scientific reason operate at different levels. The real Islam, he maintained: "had simple doctrinal structure: it consisted of certain beliefs about the greatest questions of human life, and certain general principles of human conduct. To enable us to reach these beliefs and embody them in our lives both reason and revelation are essential. They neither possess separate spheres nor conflict with each other in the same sphere…"

Abduh's aim was to interpret the Islamic law in such a way as to free it from the traditional interpretations and prove that Islam and modern Western civilization were compatible. Abduh was convinced of the supremacy of human reason. Religion merely supplements and aids reason. Reason sits in judgment on religion. Islam is, above all, the religion of reason and all its doctrines can be logically and rationally demonstrated.

Abduh was thus the chief exponent of what has been termed as the "Two-Book" school of thought which, though it basically holds the unity of God inseparable from the unity of truth, recognizes two open ways to it: the way of revelation and that of natural science. He contended that since God's purpose in marking His revelation was to promote human welfare, a true interpretation of the Quran and the Sunnah should essentially be the one which best fulfils this purpose. He himself took the lead in this direction.

Qasim Amin was an Egyptian jurist and one of the founders of the Egyptian national movement and Cairo University. He was renowned for his support of women's liberation in the Islamic world.

He believed that reforming the umma (nation) started with the reform of the family and women's role within it; secluded and denied a certain level of education in the extended patriarchal homestead, women could not succeed in raising competent children, particularly male offspring, who would lead the Egyptian nation. This ignorance in turn led to the reproduction of archaic values and decadent traditions.

Hali was an Urdu and literary critic of great influence, his discussion of poetry prefacing his own collected poems is a classic. He began to compose his epic poem at the request of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the Musaddas e-Madd o-Jazr e-Islam (The Flow and Ebb of Islam). The aim of this writing was to forewarn the Muslims of the sub-continent and make them more aware of their past and help them learn from their forefathers' mistakes.

Hali was for a new start in politics and society as much as in literature. He believed in the irreversible movement of modern civilisation, arguing that only by contact with the West could life and vigour flow back into India. His simple and deeply moving poetry inspired millions and awakened a decadent people to revive their lost glory and look to the future with renewed hope.

Hali used his pen to bring about social and educational reforms among Muslims. He heralded a new movement in Urdu prose and poetry free from jargon and verbiage. He wrote the famous “Musaddas-e-Hali”, a narrative on the rise and fall of Muslims that was published in 1879.

In his novel, Majalis-un Nisan (Assemblies of Women), Hali, emphasizes the need of educating women. The heroine, Zubaida Khatun, is taught the Qur’an, Arabic, Persian and Urdu as well as mathematics, geography and history by her father. This was at a time, when studying “British” subjects such as geography and mathematics was a taboo even for Indian Muslim men.

Hali passed away on 30th September 1914 in Panipat, but the movement for reformation and renaissance he helped start continues to this day.

Muhammad Tawfiq Sidqi was the physician of the prison of Turra and an associate of Rashid Rida. he was a regular contributor to al-Manar and an active Muslim apologist, published an article in al-Manar which introduced ideas very similar to Indian Ahl-i-Quran movement. He was first to openly refute hadith in the Manar.

Sidqi argued that the details of Muhammad's behavior were never meant to be imitated in every particular. To follow the exemplary practice of the Prophet is obligatory for the community only if the Quran explicitly orders this practice. That which might be distilled from the Quran implicitly, in other words, which goes beyond the Quranic decrees, is not obligatory. Thus Muslims should rely solely on the Quran.

In his writing, Sidqi wanted to show that man could do away with the sunna as the Quran provided him with the answers to all the questions in life, religious as well as seclar.

In Sidqi's view, what is compulsory to mankind does not go beyond God's book.

Haminduddin Farahi was a celebrated Islamic scholar of Indian subcontinent known for his groundbreaking work on the concept of Nazm, or Coherence, in the Quran. He was instrumental in producing scholarly work which proved that the verses of the Quran are interconnected in such a way that each Surah, or Chapter, of the Quran forms a coherent structure, having its own central theme, which he called umood (the theme which stands out).

He also started writing his own exegesis, or tafsir, of the Quran which was left incomplete due to his death in 1930. The Muqaddimah, or the Introduction, to this tafsir is an extremely important work on the theory of Nazm-ul-Quran.

Chakralwi is known to be the first Indian scholar to make use of the term  "Ahl-i-Quran".  After being forced out of his home town, reportedly by opponents of his views, Chakralawi fled to Lahore where he established an association, the Jamaa-i Ahle-i Quran. Under the auspices of this organization, he began to promote his doctrines. he became engaged in bitter debates with the Ahle-i-Hadith and he so aroused their fury that he had to be rescued on one occasion by the government authorities. In 1921 a disciple of Chakralawi established a journal, Ishat al-Quan, which continued until 1925.

Ahmed Din was born in Amritsar, India. He first opposed reliance on hadith in favor of Quran in 1917 with his book Mujizat al-Quran, in which he attempted a reinterpretation of the laws of inheritance on the basis of the Quran alone. He knew several languages and was active in interreligious debates. In 1918, after his publication of his book on the subject, he founded the Anjuman-i-Ummat-i Muslima, an organization which began publishing a journal, al-Balagh, which became the leading voice for Ahle-Quran views until Ghulam Ahmad Parwez established the Journal Tulu-i-Islam in 1938.

Allama Muhammad Iqbal is generally known as a poet and philosopher, but he was also a jurist, a politician, a social reformer, and a great Islamic scholar.  Iqbal's contribution to the Muslim world as one of the greatest thinkers of Islam remains unparalleled. In his writings, he addressed and exhorted people, particularly the youth, to stand up and boldly face life's challenges. The central theme and main source of his message was the Qur'an.

Iqbal considered the Qur'an not only as a book of religion (in the traditional sense) but also a source of foundational principles upon which the infrastructure of an organization must be built as a coherent system of life. According to Iqbal, this system of life when implemented as a living force is ISLAM. Because it is based on permanent (absolute) values given in the Qur'an, this system provides perfect harmony, balance, and stability in the society from within and the source of security and a shield from without. It also provides freedom of choice and equal opportunity for the development of personality for everyone within the guidelines of Qur'an. Thus, in Iqbal's opinion, Islam is not a religion in which individuals strive for a private subjective relationship with God in the hope of personal salvation as it is done in secular systems. Iqbal firmly opposed theocracy and dictatorship and considered them against the free spirit of Islam.

By 1928, his reputation as a great Muslim philosopher was solidly established and he was invited to deliver lectures at Hyderabad, Aligarh and Madras. These series of lectures were later on published as a book - The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. In 1930, Iqbal was invited to preside over the open session of the Muslim League at Allahabad. In his historic Allahabad Address Iqbal visualized an independent and sovereign state for the Muslims of North-Western India.

He was one of the students of Chakralawi. He founded Anjuman-i Ahle Dhikr wa al-Quran and a journal Balagh al-Quran.

Ubaidullah was born to a Sikh family at Chilanwali, in the district of Sialkot. He converted to Islam early in his life and later enrolled in the Darul Uloom Deoband. In his early career was a pan-Islamic thinker. However, after his studies of Shah Waliullah's works, he emerged as non-Pan-Islamic scholar.

According to Sindi's view, which he claims to derive from the teachings of Shah Wali Allah, the Quran represents what he calls basic law (qanun asasi) whereas the sunna is provisional or temporary law (qanun tamhidi). The relationship of Quran to sunna, he suggests, is like the relationship of a constitution and its bylaws. The Quran like a constitution, provides basic unchanging principles; the sunna represents detailed laws which are derived from these principles and are subject to change.

Aslam Jairajpuri a notable scholar of the Quran in his own right and G.A. Parwez's mentor. He reports that he began questioning the authenticity of hadith as a young man, after coming across traditions that shocked him. In 1904 he went to meet Chakralawi in Lahore but came away unsatisfied, convinced that Chakralawi was wasting his efforts on obscurities. Apparently he was more impressed with the work of Khwaja Ahmad Din and him organization. To him considering the Ahadith as Islam is not correct. If they were in Islam, then Rasool Allah would also have left a written manuscript of these, like he did in case of Quran. For Islam, Quran is enough which is a complete book and in which Islam has been finalized.

Inayat Ullah Khan, popularly known as Allama Mashriqi, was born on August 25, 1888, in Amritsar (now in India) in a well-to-do family of wide contacts. An exceptionally brilliant student from the very start, Inayat Ullah Khan did his M.A. in mathematics from the Punjab University at the age of 18, securing first position and toppling all previous records. The following year, he entered Christ's College, Cambridge and during his five years' stay there, he did four Triposes, two in first class, and created new records at the university. His main subjects were mathematics, physics, mechanical physics and oriental languages (Arabic and Persian). At the Cambridge, he was awarded the title of Wrangler, and declared Bachelor Scholar and Foundation Scholar. British newspapers described him the "first student from anywhere in the world to have attained highest distinction in four different branches of knowledge."

During his carrer as an educationist, he was President of the Mathematical Society and Member, Delhi University Board. In 1923, he became Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; a year later he published his great work, "Tazkirah". After another two years, he went to Cairo as his country's chief delegate to the Motmar-i-Khilafat, where he delivered his historic address known as the "Khitab-i-Misr" - the Egypt Address - and opposed the Western designs to impose a "spiritual" 'Khalifa' of their own on the Muslim world after the Turks had disowned 'Khilafat'.  As a British India Government servant, Allama Mashriqi behaved extremely independently, sometimes haughtily, towards his superior British officers. Twice, while in service, the British tried to get political work from him, once in 1920 when he was offered ambassadorship, and then in 1921 with the offer to knighthood; each time he declined.

Allama Mashriqi was retired from the Government of India in 1932, when he was on long leave and had planned to launch his Khaksar movement. Through his movement he wanted to implement his concept as enunciated in the "Tazkirah", first in the sub-continent and then in the rest of the world.

Allama Mashriqi was a scientist-philosopher profoundly concerned with the purpose of man's creation, an organiser of immense capacity and a reformer of deep human motivation.

Mashriqi had a tempestuous intellect from which ideas flowed in torrents. He was passionately non-sectarian, and stood for a world-wide revolution and unification of mankind as a single fraternity on the basis of 'Religion of Nature'.  At Cambridge University, he was mainly a student of physical science, but, when doing his Tripos in Arabic, he came across the Quran and got a new insight into Science of Religions, which impelled him to undertake a deep study of the Quran and other 'divine' documents.

"The correct and the only meaning of the Quran lies, and is preserved, within itself, and a perfect and detailed exegesis of its words is within its own pages. One part of the Quran explains the other; it needs neither philosophy, nor wit, nor lexicography, nor even hadith."

The founder of the Tolu-e-Islam movement, Allama Ghulam Ahmad Parwez was born on the 9th of July, 1903.  At an early age, he acquired a thorough understanding of the traditions, beliefs and practices of conventional Islam including the once widespread discipline of Tasawwaf (Muslim mysticism) along with its arduous practical course of esoteric meditation and solitary "spiritual" exercises. This thorough grounding in the entire system of ideas which has traditionally passed under the name of religion in the Muslim society, formed the basis of Mr. Parwez’s critical study in the all pervading light of the Quran, of not only the history of Islam and Muslims, of the beliefs and practices of the pre-Islamic religions of humanity but also of the total area of human thought and socio-ideological movements throughout the ages.

In "twenties" during his stay in Lahore, he came into close association with Allama Muhammad Iqbal who inspired him and gave his specific guide-lines on the understanding of the Quran. Thru Iqbal, he was introducted to Mohammad Aslam Jairajpuri for higher studies in Arabic literature and other studies. He started weekly lectures on exposition of the Holy Quran at Karachi which feat he continued (even after shifting to Lahore in 1958) till October 1984. when he was taken Hl and expired subsequently on 02-24-1985. This was in addition to his innumerable lectures on the Quranic teachings to college and university students, scholars and general public at various occasions.

In 1938, Parwez started publishing monthly Tolu-e-Islam Its primary object was to tell the people that according to the Quran, ideology, and not geographical boundary, was the basis for the formation of nation, and that a politically independent state was pre-requisite to live in Islam. After the emergence of Pakistan, the chief objective before Tolu-e-Islam was to propagate the implementation of the principle which had inspired the demand for separate Muslim State that is, to help transform the live force of Islamic Ideology into the Constitution of Pakistan. During the Pakistan Movement, Parwez had been a gratifying counselor to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, in the matters pertaining to the Quranic values and principles.

His life long research produced many valuable books on Quranic teachings, the most celebrated of them being Ma’arif-ul-Quran in eight volumes, Lughat-ul-Quran in four volumes, Mafhoom-ul-Quran in three volumes, Tabweeb-ul-Quran in three volumes, etc.

He started weekly lectures on exposition of the Holy Quran at Karachi which feat he continued (even after shifting to Lahore in 1958) till October 1984. He organized a country-wide network of spreading the pristine Quranic teachings called Bazm-e-Tolu-e-Islam. Such organizations have now been formed by the followers of the Quran in a number of foreign countries as well.