New Delhi (3/10/12): Dr. Abdul Haq Ansari, the former President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, the chief patron of SIO and the eminent Islamic scholar of contemporary India breathed last today (3rd Oct 2012) at his residence in Aligarh.

PM Salih, Secretary General, Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) condoling the demise expressed, “His passing away is a loss of intellectual treasure and guidance to the Islamic Movement as well as Indian society. Dr. Abdul Haq Ansari had been a mentor to the research scholars of Islamic Philosophy in the country. He had not been only the Chief Patron of SIO but a guide and advisor to the organisation”.

“Dr. Ansari played a vital contribution in the ideological development to the Islamic Movement in India. He was not just an intellectual but a great leader too. He was very much concerned about academic and moral upliftment of students and youths”, he added.

“May Almighty God rest the departed soul in eternal peace and also give strength to the bereaved family, friends and us to bear this irreparable, tragic and untimely loss with fortitude”, He prayed.

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.

Dr. Ansari joined the Jamaat at the very early stage of his academic career. He was elected member of Jamaat’s Central Council of Representatives and Central Advisory Council for many terms and served the organisation at its Ameer from 2003 to 2007. He had been Director of Islami Academy since 2005.

Dr. Ansari has more than a dozen books in Urdu and English to his credit. His books include Tasawwuf and Shari’ah and Learning the Language of the Qur’ān. He also participated in and presided over many national and international conferences, and had been on board of many international journals.

Born on September 1, 1931 at Tamkohi in district Deoaria of Uttar Pradesh, Dr. Ansari did Alimiyat from Darsgah Islami, Rampur in 1953, B.A. (Arabic) in 1957, M.A. in Philosophy in 1959 and Ph.D. 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. Read more