Professor Khurshid Ahmad, the former Deputy Leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, passed away on Sunday in Leicester, United Kingdom, at the age of 93.
Born in Delhi on March 23, 1932, Professor Khurshid Ahmad completed his undergraduate studies with a focus on law and earned master’s degrees in Economics and Islamic Studies from the University of Karachi.
Later, the University of Karachi awarded him an honorary doctorate in Education in recognition of his significant contributions to the academic field.
Ahmad became a member of Islami Jamiat Talaba Pakistan in 1949 and was elected as its central president in 1953. He formally joined Jamaat-e-Islami in 1956.
Professor Ahmad received an honorary PhD in Economics from the University of Leicester in the UK, where his specialization was in Islamic economics.
He served as the federal minister for planning and development in 1978. He also held the position of Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan. He was elected to the Senate of Pakistan in 1985, 1997, and 2002, and he chaired the Senate’s Standing Committee on Economic and Planning Affairs.
Professor Ahmad authored seventy books in both English and Urdu.
He played a significant advisory role during the Islamization efforts in Pakistan under the government of General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s.
In recognition of his intellectual contributions and public service, he was awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan’s highest civilian award, in 2011, and the King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam in 1990.
