Bangalore. Illustrious Educator, dedicated researcher, and Internationally renowned Islamic Scholar Prof. Muhammad Abdul Haq Ansari passed away on Oct. 3. After a heart failure he breathed his last at his residence in Aligarh. The 81 years old man of letters is survived by wife, four daughters, and a son. Dr. Ansari was great proponent of interfaith harmony and universal brotherhood, and world peace. He practiced what he preached in letter and spirit. His great learning, humble disposition, frankness of opinion, and sincerity in sharing his knowledge were the prime reasons for the respect he commanded from the global society cutting across race and religion . He taught and mentored a couple of generations in India and abroad. He was actively immersed in research, writing books, papers, and teaching of Islamic jurisprudence and Shariah subjects till his last breath.

Dr. Ansari was one of the greatest Islamic thinkers of modern times. He was the founder and Chairman of the Islamic Academy in Calicut, Kerala. His dream project, Islamic Academy stands tall as a testimony to the great soul.

Prof. Muhammad Abdul Haq Ansari had a deep love for Islamic learning and people service activities from a very early age. He joined the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) from his high school days and remained there till his death. He held many senior positions in the JIH and rose to become its chief and held the post of Ameer (president) from 2003 to 2007

Prof. Ansari was an authority in many languages including English, Arabic, Urdu, and Hebrew.

JIH-Karnataka President Mr. Abdullah Javed, Karnataka Muslim Muttahida Mahaz Convenor Mr. Masood Abdul Khader, and Majlis-e-Ulama Tahreek-e-Islami Karnataka Convenor Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Umari conveyed condolences on the sad demise of the great personality and termed it,  “Grieved on the Great Loss.”

 

Brief Profile

Born on September 1, 1931 at Tamkohi in Deoaria district of Uttar Pradesh, Prof. Ansari completed Islamic studies Alimiyat from Darsgah Islami, Rampur in 1953. Did Bachelors in Arabic in 1957, M.A. in Philosophy in 1959. He did PhD in Philosophy in 1962 from Aligarh Muslim University, and M.T.S in Comparative Religion and Theology from Harvard University, U.S.A in 1972.

Prof. Ansari served as Professor and Head of the Department of Arabic, Persian and Islamic Studies, Vishwa Bharti University, Shantiniketan, West Bengal from 1965 to 1978. He taught in the Department of Islamic Studies, Sudan University from 1978 to 1981, at Dhahran University from 1982 to 1985 and at Imam Muhammad Bin Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 1985 to 1995.

Prof. Ansari was elected member of JIH’s Central Council of Representatives and Central Advisory Council for many terms and served as its Ameer from 2003 to 2007. He had been Director of Islami Academy since 2005.

Prof. Ansari authored more than a dozen important books in Urdu and English. His books Tasawwuf and Shari’ah and Learning the Language of the Quran became very popular in the educational circles. He also participated in and presided over many national and international conferences, and had been on board of many International Journals.

He presented many research papers on important topics in many national and international forums. A few of them are listed as follows:

Orientalist Conference, New Delhi, January 1964, paper read: The Concept of Ultimate Happiness in Muslim Philosophy Compared with Buddhist Nirvana.

International Fifth East-West Philosophers Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1969, Presided over a week-long Sectional meeting, and read paper on Alienation of Modern Man and Islam.

International Religious Conference, Patiala University, 1969, paper read: Guru Nanak’s View of God.

Participated in the International Seminar on Morality and Law, New Delhi, 1973.

World Conference on Religions and Peace, Brussels, 1974.

International Islamic Education Conference, King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah, 1977, read paper: Transformation of the Perspective.

Islamic Studies Conference, Aligarh, 1962, paper read: The Ethics of Ibn Sina.

Oriental Studies Conference, Gauhati, 1965, paper read: The Good and the Right in the Mutazilite Theology.

Seminar on Religion, Bhagalpur University, 1969, paper read: Integration of Indian Society and Islam (Urdu: Qowmi Ekjihati Aur Islam).

Sahitya Academy Seminar, New Delhi, 1969, paper read: Some Observations on Guru Nanak.

Philosophy Conference, Madras University, 1969, paper read: Liberation and Islam.

Seminar on Philosophy of Religion, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan, 1974, paper read: Myth, Truth and the Qur’an.

Sahitya Academy Seminar, New Delhi, 1975, paper read: Shaykh Farid Ganj Shakar: An Ideal Sufi.

Seminar on Islamic Thought, Jamia Millia, New Delhi, 1976, paper read: A critical Review of Islamic Theology Urdu: Ilm Kalam Ka Tanqidi Jaizah.

Seminar on Islam in a changing World, Aligarh Muslim University, 1977 paper read: Islamic Values and Change.

[edit]Research and Works

The Ethical Philosophy of Miskawaih, Aligarh Muslim University Press, Aligarh, India, 1964.

The Moral Philosophy of al-Farabi, Aligarh, India, 1965.

The Islamic Ideal (in Urdu: Maqsad Zindagi Ka Islami Tasawwar), Maktaba Islami, Delhi, India, 1970

Sufism and Shariah: A Study of Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi’s Effort to Reform Sufism, The Islamic Foundation, Leicester, U.K. 1985

An Introduction to the Exegesis of the Quran, (English translation of Ibn Taymiyah’s Muqaddamat al-Tafsir with introduction and notes), Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1989.

Learning the Language of the Quran, Centre for Religious Studies and Guidance, Aligarh, India, 1997.

Ibn Taymiyah Expounds on Islam, Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, Washington, U.S.A., 2000.

Commentary on the Creed of Al-Tahawi, translation with an Introduction of Ibn Abi l-‘Izz’s Sharh al-‘Aqidah al-Tahawiyah, Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences, Washington, U.S.A., 2000.

Tasawwuf aur Shariah: Shaykh Mujaddid Ke Fikr Ka Mutali’ah, Urdu trans. of my Sufism and Shariah, with a new Introduction, Maktaba Islami, New Delhi, 2001.

Serving God (translation of the Risalah al-Ududiyah of Ibn Taymiyah).

Sufi Perspectives on Experience and Reality: An Exercise in Understanding Sufism

Mujaddid Deen-e-Ummat aur Tasawwuf, MMI Publishers, New Delhi, 2008.

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