Professor Dr. Muhammad Mumtaz Ali of International Islamic University, Malaysia received the National Book Award 2014 for his book entitled, Issues in Islamisation of Human Knowledge: Civilization Building Discourse of Contemporary Muslim Thinkers under the category of Contemporary Islamic Thought.
Jointly organised by the National Book Development Foundation, Government of Malaysia, and the Federation of National Writer Associations, Malaysia, the Award was delivered by the Former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi on 11 December 2014.
Prof. Dr. Mumtaz Ali was born on 15 June 1955 in Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, India. His father, Late Muhammad Mahboob Ali and mother, Late Maboob Bee wanted their son to receive the highest education and they did everything possible so that he may achieve it and they accomplished their dream with the help of Allah the Exalted. His father was the Imam of the Masjid Aek Khana, Bada Bazaar, Golconda Fort, Hyderabad and his mother was a devoted family lady. He is the youngest of five brothers.
In 1980, he got married to Zeenath Kausar, daughter of an Islamic scholar and freedom-fighter, Late Maulana Maqbool Ahmad Jamaie. Dr. Zeenath Kausar is an author of several books especially on Gender Studies and Western and Islamic political thought. Their son, Mohd. Abdul Allam Roase is working with Al Jazeera, Doha , Qatar; first daughter Muznah Madeeha is also staying in Qatar with her husband Dr. Sayeed Anand Abdullah who is Asst. Professor in the Dept. of Chemical Engineering in the Qatar University. His second daughter Humnah Madeeha is staying in Washington DC. with her husband, Mohammad Bilal Kenasari who is a correspondent in Anatolia News Agency, Turkey, in its Washington DC Branch. Prof. Dr. Mumtaz has three grandsons, Mohd. Abdur Rahman Unais (6 years), Raihan Aman Abdullah (1 year and a half) and Mohd. Atif Yahya Kenasari ( 6 months).
Prof. Ali received his early education in Golconda High School, and Chadergat High School, Abids, Hyderabad. He also studied at Nizam College and Anwar Ul Uloom College in Hyderabad. After completing his first degree from Osmania University, Hyderabad, he joined Aligarh Muslim University, AMU for his Masters and completed his M.Phil and Ph. D. from the same University. During his Ph.D, he visited the UK and stayed there for more than a year for the field work, because his Ph.D thesis was on ‘Islam and the West: A case Study of Muslims in Great Britain’. Thus during his doctoral studies itself he developed a deep interest in Islamic thought and started reflecting on the differences between Western and Islamic epistemologies. After completing his Doctorate in Islamic Studies, he joined International Islamic University, Malaysia in 1987.
Another dimension of his personality which was building in him since his educational period was his selfless interest and honest commitment to motivate and mobilise Muslim youth of his age for higher education, for Islamic understanding, for increasing awareness on problems of India and contemporary challenges for the Muslim community and humanity at large. For this purpose, he travelled extensively throughout India and met students and inspired them to read, to think and to express themselves in different educational ways. He himself participated in several Essay Writing Competitions and debates and Baith-bazi programmes and always won the First or Second prizes.
Currently he is a Professor and Chairperson of Post Graduate Committee in the Department of Usuluddin and Comparative Religion. Besides teaching, he takes interest in student affairs and guides them for their better future and career. Through his scholarly contribution on one side he explains Islam as the most fundamental source of culture and civilization and on the other he is promoting national harmony, tolerance, peaceful living, dialogue and interactions between several traditions and communities. Though he is living in Malaysia, he visits India every year not only to meet his family members and friends but also to interact with people in India and share his ideas for the development of the people of India in educational, intellectual and academic domains of life.
At the international level his intellectual contribution is immense. He has extensively travelled to more than 25 countries and presented his academic research papers in international conferences held by several universities in the world. Some of the countries where he presented his papers in International conferences include America, Canada, England, Italy, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Singapore, Nigeria, Qatar, etc. His academic papers have been published in reputed journals all over the world. He has also delivered speeches for the benefit of Muslim communities in all those countries where he visited. His area of research includes Modern and Contemporary Islamic Thought, Development, Modernisation, Research Methodology, Methodological and Epistemological Issues, Islamisation of Knowledge, Islamic Research Methods, Muslim Minorities and Contemporary Issues in Islamic Thought.
In his writings he has always emphasised critical thinking, creative thinking and new ideas and thoughts for the development of Islamic thought on the basis of the primary sources of knowledge, the Qur’ān and Sunnah. He asserts that the emotional behaviour and extremist attitudes of a religion or ideology cannot solve the multi-dimensional and complex problems of any given community, including the Muslim community and its over-all backwardness. He contends that the contemporary Muslim scholars should develop highly intellectual perspectives based on the tenets of Islam and should address the contemporary problems, presenting critical analysis of the problems.
He thinks that the Muslim Ummah must demonstrate high level of wisdom and scholarship. He believes that the Muslim Ummah cannot afford to focus on the problems and challenges of its own Ummatic house, but it is the time to provide Islamic alternatives and paradigms even for other cultural traditions and civilizations, albeit not in a compelling way, rather in an intellectually convincing ways and dialogues which requires a consistent engagement in Islamic thought and action.
His writings are well acclaimed and his books and articles have established him as a known Islamic scholar and a potential intellectual. His books, Islamic Critical Thinking, The Philosophy of Science: An Islamic Perspective and The History and Philosophy of Islamisation of Knowledge are categorized as best sellers in the campus of the University. His forthcoming books are dealing with subjects such as Islamic Ethics, Natural Calamities, and Re-examination of the terms and philosophy of Science and Scientific Spirit.