Zafar Ishaq Ansari

Dr. Zafar Ishaq Ansari (Urdu: ﻇﻔﺮﺍﺳﺤﺎﻖ اﻧﺻﺎﺭﻯ‎) (27 December 1932 – 24 April 2016) was a scholar of Islamic Studies. He was the Director General of the Islamic Research Institute of the International Islamic University. Previously, he was the President of the International Islamic University Islamabad. He has published a number of books and articles, and has spoken at international conferences on Islamic Studies and inter-religious dialogue.

Zafar Ishaq Ansari belongs to a family of scholars. His late father, Maulana Zafar Ahmed Ansari, was a scholar of Islamic studies and was also elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan during the 1970s.

Ansari obtained his M.A. and PhD from the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Canada in 1966. His main thesis for his PhD program was titled “The Early Development of Fiqh in Kufah with special reference to the works of Abu Yusuf and Shaybani”. He studied at University of Karachi before going to Canada for his higher studies. He was also associated with Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba.

Ansari is fluent in English, Urdu and Arabic, and has a good command of Persian, French and German.

Ansari started his teaching career as a visiting lecturer at Department of Oriental Studies, Princeton University, NJ, USA in 1966. Since then, he has been professor of Islamic Studies and History at many universities, including King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah (1967–70), University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (1970–86), University of Melbourne, Australia (1976 – visiting), McGill University Montreal, Canada (1976–1977), University of Chicago, Chicago (Summer 1979), Faculty of Shari‘ah and Law, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan (1986–88) and Director General, Shariah Academy, International Islamic University (1987–1988).

Since 1988, Ansari has been Director General, Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, Islamabad.

He is the editor of the quarterly journal Islamic Studies and is a member of the editorial board of Journal of Islamic Studies, American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Journal of Qur'anic Studies, Studies in Contemporary Islam, and Quarterly Insights, published by Da'wah Academy, International Islamic University Islamabad.

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