Playing God

"All rights of this book are reserved for the publisher and the author. This copy is for reading purpose only. This copy cannot be uploaded on any website except those of the publisher and the author." Appendix: Brief Biographical Notes i. Ham ī d al-D ī n al-Far ā h ī 53 Al-Far ā h ī was born in 1863 54 in Phriha (hence the name Far ā h ī ), a small vil lage in Azamgarh district (Uttar Pardesh, India). He was a cousin of the famous theologian-historian Shibl ī Nu‘m ā n ī (d. 1914), from whom he learnt Arabic. He studied Arabic literature with Fayd al-Hasan Sah ā ranp ū r ī (d. 1887), who was considered a master in this field at that time. At the age of twenty one, he took admission in the Ali garh M uslim College to study modern disciplines of kno wledge. H ere he also learnt Hebrew from the German Orientalist Josef Horovitz (d. 1931). After graduation from the Allahbad university, he taught at various institutions including Aligarh and D ā r al-‘ul ū m, Hyderabad. Whilst teaching at the D ā r al-‘ul ū m, al-Farah ī proposed the setting up of a university where all 53. Expanded from: Mustansir Mir, Coherence in the Qur’ ā n , A Study of Nazm in Tadabbur-i Qur’ ā n , 1 st ed. (Indianapolis: American Trust Publications, 1986), 6-9. 54. Sharf al-D ī n Isl ā h ī , Dhikr-i Far ā h ī , 1 st ed. (Lahore: D ā r al-tadhk ī r, 2002), 68. www.javedahma gham di.com www.al-mawrid.org