Title Hujjat al-Islam Occupation Professor, Scholar Nationality Pakistani-Indian Name Khwaja Latif | Ethnicity Khwaja Died 1979 Era 20th Century Main interests History of Islam | |
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Born 30th September 1887 AD (12th Muharram 1305 AH) British India Cause of death Illness, Partial Paralysis Region Indian subcontinent, Kenya | ||
Hujjat al-Islam Professor Khwaja Muhammad Latif Ansari (1887-1979), alternatively spelled K̲h̲vajah Muḥammad Latīf Anṣārī, was a reputed 20th-century Shia Muslim scholar, poet, historian, and cleric from Pakistan. He was a descendant of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, through Khwaja Abdullah Ansari.
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Ansari was born in British India, but migrated to the newly formed Pakistan immediately after it achieved independence. In Pakistan, he took up residence in the city of Wazirabad. He spent much of his life in Kenya, where he is remembered to this day by the Shia community for bringing active and organized Shi'ism to the country. Ansari spent the last ten years of his life partially paralysed. Although he was a prolific author, many of his books were not published.
Migration to Kenya
Ansari left South Asia for Kenya in the 1950s. He was already a reputed cleric by that time, but nevertheless joined a number of scholars coming from South Asia into the relatively unheard of Shia community of Kenya. After becoming a resident alim there, Ansari helped the community to become large and prosperous as it is today. He is remembered to this day in the country for an address he delivered at the Arusha Conference in December 1958, in which he emphasized the need for tabligh. A large amount of his efforts were focused on the Khoja community.
Legacy
Although much of Ansari's work was not published, he is still remembered all across the world. Scholars in Canada, United States, Iran, Pakistan, and Kenya, among other places, have used his works as source material.
Publications
Ansari is also well known for the books he has written, both in Pakistan and in Kenya, even though many of his writings have not been published. Even late into his life, he actively wrote books, usually with the help of his youngest daughter. Most of his writings are in Urdu. His works today survive in several university catalogs and libraries.
Ansari is also mentioned as a source in "A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims" by Sayyid Ali Ashgar Razwy.
Some of his publications are as follows: