The heart rending news of Dr. Abdul Haq Ansari’s death was received on October 3, before the Asr prayer. Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilaihi Rajioon. May Allah forgive him and accept his deeds and services he rendered to Islam and grant him a blissful seat in Jannatul Firdaus. May He bestow patience and strength to the family and relatives of the deceased. Ameen.
Dr. Ansari returned to India on September 18 after a very long stay in the United States of America. His health was good, though he was suffering from pain in legs. On the day of his death he prayed Zuhr and complained of chest pain after lunch. Soon the pain increased and Dr. Ansari started taking long breaths. His soul departed while he was being taken to hospital. Next morning at 9:30 AM, in the Jama Masjid of Sir Syed Nagar, Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari led the funeral prayer. Adjacent to the Masjid is Showkat Manzil Qabristan where Dr. Ansari’s body was laid to rest. The funeral was attended by a large gathering comprising JIH central leadership, other influential people and friends and acquaintances.
Dr. Ansari’s death is a great loss. The personality who used to cater to all the needs related to thought process and education for the Islamic movement has left. May Allah bless the Islamic movement with the one who can replace him. Ameen.
Dr. Ansari was born in Tamkohi, eastern UP, in 1931. His father was Mr. Alimuddin Ansari and he was the eldest of the five brothers and sisters. Among them, two brothers and one sister have died. Two of his brothers live in America, one lives in their hometown and the sister is in Kolkata. His wife’s name is Rabia from whom he had four daughters and a son – Azra, Zuhra, Salma, Khalid and Sheema.
He received initial education in the village Madrasa and completed Inter from Islamia College in 1949. During the same phase he got introduced with the Islamic movement. Then he went to Nadwa and completed Almiyat. He then spent three years (1951-53) in Darsgah Islami, established in Rampur by the Markaz. Maulana Sadruddin Islahi, Maulana Abdus Sami Qidwai, Maulana Abdul Ghaffar Nadwi, Maulana Akhtar Ahsan Islahi, etc., were some of his teachers. He completed BA and MA in Philosophy from Aligarh in 1957 and 1959 respectively and then received the degree of doctorate on “Ethical Philosophy of Ibn Mishkawi.” He then served as a lecturer in Shanti Niketan in West Bengal. During this period he met Wilfered Cantewell Smith and on his call went to Harvard and completed Masters in Theological Studies in 1972.
Dr. Ansari has taught in India and abroad as well, of which Sudan and Saudi Arabia deserve a mention. Besides having command over English, Hindi and Arabic, he learnt many other languages as per requirement, namely German, French, Sanskrit, Greek and Hebrew.
From his student days he was associated with the Islamic movement and continued to evolve constantly as he upgraded himself in his education. He shared warm relations with the then Ameer Halqa of West Bengal, Mr. Abdul Fattah and used to deliver his best in the activities of the movement. He even used to attend gatherings organised by the Islamic movement in the nearby Bihar and UP.
Dr. Ansari, apart from doing great works in the field of philosophy, ethics, Sufism, Islamic renaissance, purification of soul, etc., have written many books in English, Arabic and Urdu catering to the needs of the Islamic movement. He wrote papers extensively for seminars and symposiums in universities and colleges. Dr. Ansari has also written papers on varying topics namely, ‘Islamic Philosophy, Ethics and Sufism,’ ‘Religions,’ ‘Mujaddideen-e-Ummat and Sufia-e-Karam,’ etc. He attended various seminars and symposia, both at national and international levels, and gave a different viewing angle to the concerning issues.
Dr. Ansari used to delve deep into the topics of research so that he could solve the problems and answer the questions that were boggling everyone. He assimilated his research with his ideology and this sets his works apart from the rest. It is a fact that the ideology the person follows translates the work into something perpetual and everlasting. It is this ideological thinking that has elevated the works of Iqbal and Maulana Maudoodi. Hence Dr. Ansari can be called as a researcher with an ideology, whose works will continue to meet the requirements of the Islamic movements. In order to understand the issues further one needs to dig deep into his books and treatises.
The atmosphere around us is that the purpose behind our creation is getting lost. Dr. Ansari, in ‘Maqsad-e-Zindigi Ka Islami Tasawwur’ presents a crystal clear picture of the purpose of our creation which leaves no doubt in the minds of the readers. He distanced extremism from Sufism and unbalanced thoughts from spirituality and presented doable and balanced forms of Sufism and spirituality. Hence ‘Tasawwuf aur Shariat’ can be regarded as Dr. Ansari’s seminal work, where he has presented a refutation of some aspects of Sufism and explained some of its good aspects, with clear proofs from the text. He did extensive research on the Mujaddidin-e-Ummat and came up with great works on Ibn-e-Taymiya, Ghazali, Mujaddid-e-Alf-e-Saani, Shah Waliullah Dehlvi, etc., that have become a great source of information for the posterity. ‘Mujaddidin-e-Ummat aur Tasawwuf’ is an exemplary book on the thoughts of great scholars of Islam. Later he included Maulana Maudoodi also in his list of Mujaddid and Afadat-e-Maudoodi is his book which deals with it. He considered four people as Mujaddid from the recent years, namely Ibn-e-Taymiya, Imam Ghazali, Shah Waliullah Dehlvi and Maulana Maudoodi and he made people, especially youth, to go through their writings and thoughts as review of their thoughts and writings is a must for the renaissance of Islam. One should not take anyone’s thought as absolutely correct and error-free and when there is doubt, one must consult with others and debate. One must read his book ‘Qaumi Yakjahti aur Islam’ in order to understand the essence and framework for religious unity in the plural society of India. Dr. Ansari’s selection of Imam Ibn-e-Taymiya seems a well contemplated work as he did extraordinary efforts and derived political and social systems as explained by Ibn-e-Taymiya.
Though Dr. Ansari remained abroad for quite a long time, the way he emphasised the methodology for doing Dawah showed that he was well aware of the realities in India. On his return he visited different areas where Dawah activities were going on in order to get an idea of the styles and means people were following for it. He then devised comparative study of religions as a method for doing Dawah as he had expertise in it. In particular, Hinduism and Christianity were the religions on which he focused. On the basis of sacred texts he tried to remove the misconceptions that have crept in Hinduism as regards to God, His oneness, etc. As regards to Christianity he laid great stress on ‘concept of trinity’ and presented the reality of Jesus (peace and blessings be to him) as mentioned in the Holy Qur’ān.
He brought back the forgotten concept that man is the vicegerent of God and explained, through Ibn-e-Taymiya, that it is the morals and the sense of right and wrong that makes man vicegerent. As per Tazkiya (purification of soul) he emphasised the Prophetic way of tazkiya. His works on Al-Farabi, Ibn-e-Taymiya, Al-Tahawi, etc., deserve a mention. As compared to his Urdu writings, his English writings have more depth and they have wide acceptance all across the globe. His essays and books have repeatedly been published from renowned institutions and publishers. His article, ‘Mysticism and Islam’ also received great admiration.
Dr. Ansari’s wife had been a significant support to him throughout his life. As Dr. Ansari was devoted and dedicated to his works, she was also dedicated and managed all the household chores and kept a close watch on his health. He freed Dr. Ansari from the household duties so that he could spend more of his time in doing service to Islam.
A look at Dr. Ansari used to remind us of a saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be with him) where he said, A Mumin is kind and soft-hearted. He was very mild and soft-hearted and used to be very cautious when discussing personalities. He never entertained late-work and used to address all the issues that were plaguing the Islamic movement at the same time, rather than discussing only one issue at length. He used to focus a lot on the educational and ideological culturing of people and he was a great mix of Ilm and Amal (knowledge and action).
He was a tough man as one would hardly see tears in his eyes; however when anything related to Allah was mentioned, his eyes would get filled with tears. When he would mention the story of Ibrahim (peace and blessings be with him) being thrown into the fire, he would shiver. Similar shiver and tremble would take him over while mentioning the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be with him) when inside the Ghar-e-Thaur he said, “Don’t be afraid. Allah is with us.” The Messenger of Allah once said, “Ilm (knowledge) is the leader of Amal (actions) and Amal is its follower.” So one must have needs of Ilm and Amal both.
One of the most important works which Dr. Ansari undertook was the preparation of individuals to carry the Dawah of Islam. For this, he wanted people to learn Arabic, Islamic Studies and other religions so as to give a comprehensive Dawah to humanity. He wanted it to be a mix of modern and Islamic education and wanted the educated youths to join the course. On his return from Saudi Arabia, he founded the Centre for Religious Studies and Guidance in Aligarh. I am the fortunate student of this centre. He started the preparation for the centre way back when he was in Saudi Arabia. He made lessons in the Arabic language and finally came up with the book Learning the Language of Qur’ān. Lessons from this book used to be taught in CRSG. He divided the course in three parts. Arabic Language and literature, Tafseer-e-Qur’ān and Ahadees constituted the first part. Second part constituted Islamic Studies ranging from basic tenets, compilation of Qur’ān, period of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, fiqh, etc. Third part was the in-depth study of the six major religions.
Dr. Ansari was a great teacher and he taught his students with great love and affection and motivated his pupils to utilise their whole life for the cause of Islam. He inculcated in his students the habit and capability to consult the Qur’ān and Ahadees in every matter. To him the Arabic language was the key. He used to follow the saying of Maulana Maudoodi where he said that if a person sincerely devotes his time to learning Arabic, he can learn it in six months. He was very dedicated to this cause. Whenever a student would score less marks in tests, he would call him to his chamber and scold him. Later he would, in an affectionate manner, advise the person to focus on studies. Dr. Ansari used to repeat three things: 1) Relationship with Allah, 2) Educational and Ideological Elevation, and 3) Ethical Elevation.
After Dr. Fazlur Rahman Faridi, the death of Dr. Ansari is a great loss. The Islamic movement needs people like Dr. Ansari who would give up everything for the cause of Islam. The greatest of all works in this world is helping or serving the Deen. The face of Dr. Ansari after his death was serene and calm. The expression on the face was as if someone was sleeping after doing some satisfactory work.
[Translation from Urdu by Kamran Shahid Ansari]