Professor Mohammad Najatullah Siddiqui
King Faisal Prize in Islamic Studies 1982 Laureate
Topic: "Contemporary Economic Problems from an Islamic Perspective"
Studying contemporary economic problems within the light of Islam helps with the progress of the framework of individual interest, and the framework of the narrow national interest
Mohammad Siddiqui was educated at Aligarh Muslim University (M.A., Ph.D.). His academic career extended over 45 years, during which he served as a Professor of Islamic Studies at Aligarh University, then joined King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) as a Professor of Economics for 22 years (1978-2000), thereafter taking short-term fellowships and Visiting Professorships in the U.S.A., Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia.
Professor Siddiqui’s dual qualification in economics and Islamic studies enabled him to contribute significantly to the development of modern Islamic economic thought. He has authored 14 books in English, 13 books in Urdu, and 7 books in Arabic, in addition to numerous research articles and seminar papers. Some of his books, originally written in English, were translated into Persian, Turkish, Malaysian, Hindi, and Indonesian languages. Of particular importance are his books Banking Without Interest, The Theory of Ownership in Islam, Role of the State in the Economy: An Islamic Perspective, Dialogue in Islamic Economics and Modern Writings in Islamic Economics: Selected Essays. These and other works reflect Siddiqui’s vast knowledge and originality of thought that place him among leading contemporary scholars of Islamic economics.
This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.
- He received many prizes including:
- American Finance House Award in 1993.
- Takaful Forum Award in New York in 2000.
- New Delhi Institute of Objective Studies Award in 2003.
- He held several positions including:
- Member of the AAOIFI in Bahrain in 1999.
- President of the International Association for Islamic Economics in 2001.
- Fellow at the Center of Near Eastern Studies at UCLA in 2001.
- Visiting scholar at the Islamic Development Bank in 2002.
- Distinguished professor at the International Islamic University, Kuala Lumpur in 2006.