Everyone should benefit from Dr. Zafar’s Islamic knowledge. I was honored to remember him at International Islamic University and share my personal experience.
Dr. Zafar Ishaq Ansari was a close friend of my father, Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari. I heard his new mentioned frequently in the house alongside Maududi Sahib’s. My father eyes would light up when he would mention Dr. Zaffar and Maududi, two notable scholars who he admired greatly and who he thought possessed great insight into Islam.
As an adolescent I did not pay much attention to this admiration but later when I peripherally read a few essays by Maududi Sahib and Dr. Zaffar, I realized the value of my Father’s opinion for them.
Dr. Zaffar is well known for authoring a number of books and articles on history, religion, Law, the Quran and Hadith along with other religions and sciences. He contributed his articles to the Encyclopedia Britannica and Encyclopedia of religions and endeavored in the struggle to compose comprehensive and explanatory articles and lectures for not only Pakistani audiences but also for the intellectual circles and academia all over the world.
He is missed today as a moderate, highly knowledgeable and spiritual philosopher and scholar. He presented in his writings a distinct and lucid role of the Ummah keeping a delicate balance with nationalism and contemporary issues. His writings imbibed a strong religious identity that was cohesive with socio-political development on a national and International Level.
He is one Scholar who could have played a significant role towards facilitating greater comprehension of Islam and other religions amongst the Youth, statesmen, Politician and people belonging to all spheres of life. Can you imagine the diversity and in-depth knowledge of this scholar who confronted and wrote about issues like Fiqhi disagreements, socialism, aspect of black Muslim theology, Muslims in the South pacific and philosophy of water reuse in Islamic perspective? Such was his knowledge!
Death is a certainty that all of us must face: Transition from this material world to a spiritual realm. Human life is finite but what matters is that we have behind. In this respect, Dr.Zaffar Ansari was indeed a lucky man for having left behind immeasurable wealth for his students, family and all of us: His writings, that are a treasure for Muslims. They are spiritual building blocks for us to construct upon and develop further in order to survive and nurture in this ruthless world of materialism, consumerism, war and unrest. We need to delve into the writings of Dr. Ansari and other enigmatic scholars like him, who lived in remembrance of Allah and devoted their life to the study and teaching of Islam.
May Allah bless him and give us the fortitude to learn from his writings.
