LEICESTER: Former deputy Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Professor Khurshid Ahmad, passed away in Leicester, UK, on Sunday. He was 93.
Professor Khurshid Ahmad was born on March 23, 1932, in Delhi. He completed his graduation with a focus on legal studies and obtained master’s degrees in economics and Islamic studies from the University of Karachi.
The University of Karachi later awarded him an honorary degree in education for his distinguished services in the field of education.
Ahmad became a member of the Islami Jamiat Talaba Pakistan in 1949 and was elected its central president in 1953. He formally joined the Jamaat-e-Islami in 1956.
Professor Ahmad received an honorary PhD in economics from the University of Leicester, UK, where he specialized in Islamic economics.
He served as the Federal Minister for Planning and Development in 1978. He also held the post of Deputy Chairman of the Pakistan Planning Commission. He was elected to the Senate of Pakistan in 1985, 1997, and 2002. He chaired the Senate Standing Committee on Economic and Planning Affairs.
Professor Ahmad has authored seventy books in both English and Urdu.
He played a key advisory role during the Islamization efforts in Pakistan during the 1980s under General Zia-ul-Haq.
For his intellectual and public service, he was awarded Pakistan’s highest civilian award, the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, in 2011, and the King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam in 1990.
