Muhammad Abdul Haq Ansari was an Islamic scholar from India. He was the Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind from 2003 to 2007. He was the member of Central Advisory Council of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. He was also the Chancellor of Jamia Islamia, Shantapuram, Kerala. His book Sufism and Shariah is a synthesis of Sufi and Shariah thought, especially a Tatbiq of Shaikh Ahmed Sir Hindi and Shah Waliullah's thought. It grew out of his in-depth engagement with kalam, tsawwuf and fiqh in Islamic history. His other major contributions are a book on Mishkawah's philosophy and an English translation of Ibn-e-taimiyah's fatwas with an introduction. He also wrote 'Learning the Language of Quran' it is one of the best English guides for the beginners learning to read the Qur'an. In New Delhi he established the Islami Academy, aimed at training graduates from secular educational background in Islamic Sciences based on the madrasa curriculum.
Education
After completing Alimiyat from Darsgah Islami, Rampur, Abdul Haq Ansari came to Aligarh where he studied Arabic, Philosophy and history and obtained his B.A from Aligarh Muslim University, in 1957. He pursued higher studies in philosophy and obtained M.A from Aligarh Muslim University in 1959. He did his PhD from Aligarh Muslim University in 1962. He also obtained a master's degree, M.T.S., from Harvard University U.S.in 1972.
Academic activities
Ansari served as Professor and Head of the Department of Arabic, Persian and Islamic Studies at the Vishwa Bharti University. He also taught Islamic Studies at Sudan University, Dhahran University, and at Imam Muhammad Bin Saud University, Riyadh. He has read many papers in International and National conferences. Some of them are:
Orientalist Conference, New Delhi, January 1964, paper read : The Concept of Ultimate Happiness in Muslim Philosophy Compared with Buddhist Nirvana.
International Fifth East-West Philosophers Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1969, Presided over a week-long Sectional meeting, and read paper on Alienation of Modern Man and Islam.
International Religious Conference, Patiala University, 1969, paper read : Guru Nanak's View of God.
Participated in the International Seminar on Morality and Law, New Delhi, 1973.
World Conference on Religions and Peace, Brussels, 1974.
Commentary on the Creed of Al-Tahawi, transl. with an Introduction of Ibn Abi l-'Izz's Sharh al-'Aqidah al-Tahawiyah, Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences, Washington, U.S.A., 2000.
Tasawwuf aur Shariah: Shaykh Mujaddid Ke Fikr Ka Mutali’ah, Urdu trans. of my Sufism and Shariah, with a new Introduction, Maktaba Islami, New Delhi, 2001.
Serving God.
Sufi Perspectives on Experience and Reality: An Exercise in Understanding Sufism
Mujaddid Deen-e-Ummat aur Tasawwuf, MMI Publishers, New Delhi, 2008.
Death
He died at home in Aligarh on 3 October 2012, following a brief cardiac failure. He was 82.