Muhammad Taqi Usmani

Muhammad Taqi Usmani is a Pakistani Islamic jurist and a leading scholar specializing in the Qur'an, Hadith, Islamic law, and comparative religion. He serves as the Chairman of Wifaq ul Madaris Al-Arabia and holds significant influence within the contemporary Deobandi movement. His expertise extends to Islamic economics, where he has shaped the banking and finance industries both in Pakistan and internationally.

Early life and education

Usmani was born on 3 October 1943 in Deoband, located in the Saharanpur district of British India. He is the fifth and youngest son of Mufti Muhammad Shafi, who served as the Grand Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband. Following the partition of India in 1948, Usmani migrated to Pakistan with his family when he was four years old. Because there was no madrasah nearby at that time, his parents provided his primary education at home.

He later enrolled at Darul Uloom Karachi after his father founded the school in 1950. Usmani began formal religious training through the Dars-i Nizami curriculum in 1953. He achieved several academic milestones, including passing the Fazil-i Arabi with distinction in 1958 and receiving his Alimiyyah degree from Darul Uloom Karachi in 1959. In 1961, he earned his Takhassus degree in fiqh and ifta, which granted him the title of Mufti.

His academic pursuits continued at secular institutions to complement his religious studies. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in economics and politics from the University of Karachi in 1964. After standing second in his entire batch, he earned a Bachelor of Laws in 1967. Finally, he completed a Master of Arts with first-class honours in Arabic language and literature from the University of the Punjab in 1970.

Career

Usmani's professional career spans judicial, academic, and financial sectors. He served as a member of the Council of Islamic Ideology from 1977 to 1981. Between 1981 and 1982, he acted as a judge for the Federal Shariat Court. He then held a position as a judge in the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan from 1982 until 2002.

His teaching career began at Darul Uloom Karachi in 1960. Since 1967, he has managed the Urdu magazine Al-Balagh, and he has edited the English magazine Al-Balagh International since 1976. He is a permanent member of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy of the OIC, where he previously served as deputy chairman. Additionally, he maintains membership in the Mecca-based Muslim World League.

In the field of economics, Usmani is recognized for pioneering Islamic banking in Pakistan through the establishment of Meezan Bank. He serves as the Chairman of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) in Bahrain. His leadership roles include serving as the Chairman of the Shariah Board of the State Bank of Pakistan starting in 2014. He has also chaired Shariah Boards for more than 12 Islamic banks and financial institutions.

Usmani is a prolific author who has written 143 books in Arabic, English, and Urdu. His literary contributions include the English translation of Ma'ariful Qur'an and the work Tauzeeh Al-Qur'an. He also authored the six-volume commentary on Sahih Muslim titled Takmilah Fath al-Mulhim. His notable works in jurisprudence include Fatawa-e-Usmani and Islam and Modern Economic Problems.

Awards and recognition

The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre ranked Usmani as the 1st most influential Muslim personality in the world in 2020. He has appeared in the top 50 of this publication every year since 2009. In 2017, the Global Islamic Finance Report identified him as the 2nd most influential person in the global Islamic financial services industry. By 2023, he was ranked 6th in the same influential list.

He has received several prestigious honors for his service to society and religion. The President of Pakistan conferred the Sitara-i-Imtiaz upon him in 2019 for his work in public welfare. In 2010, he was awarded the Order of Independence by King Abdullah II of Jordan. He also received the Islamic Development Bank Prize in 2014 for his contributions to Islamic economics.

Other accolades include the King Abdullah II Award in 2011 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Islamic Finance Forum of South Asia in 2016. In 2022, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by an American International Theism University. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Center of Islamic Finance at COMSATS Institute of Information Technology in 2017.