Khurshid Ahmad obituary
My friend Khurshid Ahmad, who has died aged 93, was a pioneering scholar admired for helping to develop the field of Islamic economics as an academic discipline.
In 1973 he founded the Islamic Foundation in Leicester, a centre dedicated to research, education and training that has published more than 400 books and papers. It is now housed at the Markfield Conference Centre in Markfield, Leicestershire.
Khurshid believed that conventional banking methods produce various forms of injustice, and he was deeply opposed to the charging of interest to people who borrow money. Much of his work was based on trying to find alternatives to interest-charging that were compliant with ethical Islamic principles.
Khurshid was born in Delhi, in India, to Nazir Ahmad Qureishi, a journalist and businessman, and Sarwar Jahan. He attended the Anglo-Arabic school in Delhi, then, following the birth of the state of Pakistan in 1947, migrated with his family to Lahore.
After gaining a degree in economics from Karachi University, followed by a master's in Islamic studies, he taught economics in Karachi at the Urdu College and Karachi University.
He moved to the UK in 1968 to do a PhD, and after setting up the Islamic Foundation, he served as its chairman until his retirement in 2017.
He was awarded a number of honorary doctorates, including by Loughborough University and the University of Malaya in Malaysia.
Khurshid's wife, Azra (nee Mohebullah), whom he married in 1967, died in 2015. He is survived by their sons, Haris, Salman and Umer, and daughters, Asma, Salma and Fariha, and by his brother, Anis.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
India's equity benchmarks set to open higher
June 3 (Reuters) - India's equity benchmarks are likely to open modestly higher on Tuesday, with analysts expecting markets to consolidate as global trade tensions outweigh expectations of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India. Gift Nifty futures were trading at 24,845.5 as of 8:15 a.m. IST, indicating a firm start above Nifty 50's (.NSEI), opens new tab close of 24,716.6 on Monday. Rate-sensitive sectors - realty, financials, consumer and auto - will be in focus ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) policy decision on Friday, with markets anticipating a 25-basis-points cut. Lower rates could boost borrowing and demand across these segments. Asian markets inched higher on the day, while the U.S. dollar softened amid mounting trade tensions between Washington and Beijing and heightened geopolitical risks from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Wall Street ended in the green on Monday in a volatile session. Back home, both Nifty and Sensex (.BSESN), opens new tab closed marginally lower on Monday, dragged down by information technology and metal stocks, as global concerns overshadowed upbeat domestic growth data. "Markets are likely to consolidate in the near term rather than continue a momentum-driven run due to global trade uncertainty," Avinash Satwalekar, president, Franklin Templeton India said. Foreign institutional investors (FII) offloaded Indian shares for the second straight session on Monday, selling shares worth 25.89 billion rupees ($303 million). In contrast, domestic institutional investors (DII) remained net buyers for the tenth consecutive session. Meanwhile, Adani group stocks will be in focus after the conglomerate denied "any deliberate engagement" in sanctions evasion or trade involving Iranian-origin liquefied petroleum gas. The response comes after the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. prosecutors were probing whether the Adani group had imported Iranian LPG into India through its Mundra port. ** Biocon ( opens new tab gets approval for diabetes drug Liraglutide in India. ** PTC India Financial Services ( opens new tab receives full share of 1.25 billion rupees under an approved resolution plan. ** Mphasis ( opens new tab says it continues to be a service provider for FedEx and calls report claiming the loss of FedEx to rival Accenture purely speculative. ($1 = 85.4170 Indian rupees)
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Rupee caught between US dollar weakness, lack of directional bias
MUMBAI, June 3 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is likely to open slightly weaker on Tuesday and is expected to hold a narrow range through the day amid a struggling U.S. dollar and the lack of momentum on either side. The 1-month non-deliverable forward indicated an open in the 85.40-85.44 range, versus the close of 85.3825 in the previous session. Non-deliverable forwards suggest the rupee is unlikely to benefit from the up-move in regional peers. The offshore Chinese yuan (CNH=) inched higher past the 7.20 level against the dollar, while the Korean won, Malaysian ringgit, and Indonesian rupiah each rose about 0.3%. "Yesterday, the situation was reverse — the rupee outperformed most Asian peers," said a currency trader at a Mumbai-based bank, adding that overall, the rupee was "simply lacking direction". "We're in a phase where speculative interest has diminished, leading to largely range-bound sessions. Any meaningful move is likely to come only post the two key events on Friday.' On Friday, the Reserve Bank of India is expected to deliver its third successive interest rate cut - a 25-basis-point cut - on the back of benign inflation data. Later in the day, the release of the U.S. non-farm payrolls report for May will offer fresh insight into the health of the U.S. labour market amid ongoing tariff-related uncertainty. Softer non-farm payrolls data could reinforce expectations of a potential Federal Reserve rate cut, keeping the dollar index under mild downward pressure, HDFC Bank said in a note. The U.S. dollar has been under pressure for much of the year, weighed down by policy uncertainty and, more recently, concerns over the fiscal deficit. The dollar index (=USD) is currently trading just 1% above its year-to-date low. Concerns about tariff-related turbulence has resurfaced, adding to the dollar's headwinds. U.S. President Donald Trump signalled plans to double tariffs on steel and aluminium, while U.S.-China trade relations remain uncertain. KEY INDICATORS: ** One-month non-deliverable rupee forward at 85.54; onshore one-month forward premium at 14.25 paisa ** Brent crude futures up 0.5% at $65 per barrel ** Ten-year U.S. note yield at 4.45% ** As per NSDL data, foreign investors sold a net $585.4 million worth of Indian shares on May 30 ** NSDL data shows foreign investors sold a net $712.3 million worth of Indian bonds on May 30
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
People Fixing the World Shipping containers fixing the world
Shipping containers are a staple of global trade, helping in the transport of all sorts of goods by sea across the world. But their relatively cheap cost and sturdy structure lends them to many other purposes. In this episode we look at a start-up business in the UK that uses shipping containers to store carbon captured from the air in the production of building materials. And we visit a school for poorer children created out of shipping containers that sits in the middle of a busy intersection in Mumbai, India. People Fixing The World from the BBC is about brilliant solutions to the world's problems. We'd love you to let us know what you think and to hear about your own solutions. You can contact us on WhatsApp by messaging +44 8000 321721 or email peoplefixingtheworld@ And please leave us a review on your chosen podcast provider. Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer: William Kremer India reporter: Chhavi Sachdev Editor: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Hal Haines (Image: Myra with Nicholas Chadwick from Mission Zero outside a shipping container in Norfolk, BBC)
