Islamic thinker Dr. Abdul Haq Ansari no more

Aligarh, October 3: Renowned Islamic scholar, linguist and litterateur Dr. Abdul Haq Ansari passed away on Wednesday at his residence at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. He was 81.

Though he was suffering from old-age related illness, Dr Ansari was active in Islamic movement until his last breath.

Dr. Ansari was considered as one of the greatest Islamic thinkers of modern times. He had been a mentor to the research scholars of Islamic Philosophy in India and played a vital role in the ideological development of the Islamic Movement in the South Asian country. He was very much concerned about academic and moral upliftment of students and youths.

Dr. Ansari has more than a dozen books in Urdu and English to his credit. His masterpiece 'Learning the Language of Quran' is considered as one of the best English guides for the beginners of Qur'anic studies.

He was the Amir (president) of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), the largest organisation in India for Islamic cause between 2003 and 2007.

Dr. Ansari rendered his services as Professor and Head of the Department of Arabic, Persian and Islamic Studies, Vishwa Bharti University, Shantiniketan, West Bengal from 1965 to 1978, then at 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.

He was also directing research on Religious Traditions, which includes Islam and other religions at the Islamic Academy, formerly Centre for Religious Studies and Guidance, Aligarh, as its Director since 1996.

For more than 10 years, he had pursued research in various aspects of Islamic thought at the Centre for Academic Research, Imam Muhammad b. Saud Islamic University, Riyadh.

He was also the Chancellor of Jamia Islamia (Islamic university), Shantapuram, Kerala, India.

Born on September 1, 1931 at Tamkohi, Deoaria, at Uttar Pradesh, Ansari Studied Arabic, Philosophy and history and obtained his B.A from Aligarh Muslim University, in 1957. He pursued higher studies in philosophy and obtained M.A. (Philosophy) from Aligarh Muslim University in 1959. He did his Ph.D. (Philosophy) from Aligarh Muslim University in 1962. He also obtained a Masters Degree, M.T.S. (Comparative Religion and Theology), from Harvard University in United States of America in 1972.