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About
Afzal Hoosen Elias (1955–2018 CE) was a South African mufti, translator, and remarkably prolific compiler working within the Hanafi school and the Deobandi tradition. He was born in Muharram 1375 AH (September 1955 CE) in Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, and first qualified as a draftsman, graduating from the ML Sultan College in Durban, before turning to formal religious study at Darul Uloom Deoband in India. There he completed his Aalim certificate in 1983 and his Mufti certificate in 1984, studying hadith under Mufti Saeed Ahmad Palanpuri and Qurʾanic commentary under the mufassir Ghulamullah Khan of Rawalpindi.
His life's work was the translation, compilation, and publication of Islamic knowledge in clear, accessible English, a legacy of more than 600 titles spanning Qurʾan, tafsir, hadith, history, and devotional life. He is best known for "Quran Made Easy," a plain-language rendering of the Qurʾan widely used by general readers, and for his English translation of Aashiq Ilahi's ten-volume tafsir, "Illuminating Discourses of the Noble Quran." His compilations include the popular "Hundred Stories" biographical series on the Companions and early figures, and "The Wisdom of Luqman." For over a decade he served as mufti for Radio Islam in Johannesburg, and for several years for Radio Al Ansaar in Durban. He passed away on 25 April 2018 (8 Shaʿban 1439 AH).
His life's work was the translation, compilation, and publication of Islamic knowledge in clear, accessible English, a legacy of more than 600 titles spanning Qurʾan, tafsir, hadith, history, and devotional life. He is best known for "Quran Made Easy," a plain-language rendering of the Qurʾan widely used by general readers, and for his English translation of Aashiq Ilahi's ten-volume tafsir, "Illuminating Discourses of the Noble Quran." His compilations include the popular "Hundred Stories" biographical series on the Companions and early figures, and "The Wisdom of Luqman." For over a decade he served as mufti for Radio Islam in Johannesburg, and for several years for Radio Al Ansaar in Durban. He passed away on 25 April 2018 (8 Shaʿban 1439 AH).
