Professor Khurshid Ahmed
King Faisal Prize in Service to Islam 1990 Laureate
Unparalleled strides in the fields of material advancement, scientific innovations, technological transformations, and frequent political adjustments have failed to get the house of humanity in order
Khurshid Ahmed obtained two Bachelor’s degrees in Law and Jurisprudence, two Master’s degrees in Economics and Islamic Studies, and two Honorary Doctorates in Education and Islamic Economics.
An internationally-known scholar and Islamic activist, Professor Khurshid authored and edited 70 books, 35 each in English and Urdu, as well as numerous articles, and participated in at least 100 seminars worldwide. He traveled extensively lecturing about Islam and preaching its values, and is presently an editor of Tarjumanul Quran.
Professor Khurshid held key positions in numerous national and international organizations dealing with Islamic religious, academic, economic, social, and constitutional matters. He is the Founder and Chairman of the Institute of Policy Studies in Pakistan and the Islamic Foundation in Leicester, England, the Vice-President of the Islamic Research Academy in Karachi and Lahore, and a Member of the Boards of the International Islamic University in Islamabad, the Royal Academy for Islamic Civilization in Jordan and the Islamic Center in Zaria (Nigeria). He was Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Statistics, a professor in Karachi University, and a research scholar at Exeter University.
Professor Khurshid’s contributions have earned him several other awards, including the first Islamic Development Bank Award in 1988.
This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.
- He published many books including:
- Islamic Approach to Development (Institute of Policy Studies), (1994).
- Islamic Resurgence: Challenges, Directions & Future Perspectives (World & Islam Studies Enterprise), (1994).
- The Crisis of the Political System in Pakistan (Mansoorah), (1996).
- The Contemporary Economic Challenges and Islam (Institute of Policy Studies), (2002).
- He held many positions including:
- Rector of Markfield Institute of Higher Education, Leicester in 2001.
- Member of the Pakistani Senate in 2003.
- He received many awards and honors including:
- The 5th Annual Prize of American Finance House in 1998.
- Honorary Doctorate in Literature from Loughborough University in 2003.
- Honorary Doctorate in Islamic Economics from University of Malaysia in 2006.
- The Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Order of Excellence) in 2011.