Asghar Ali Engineer

Mumbai, May 14: Islamic scholar and social activist Asghar Ali Engineer, who worked tirelessly to promote communal harmony and was a member of the National Integration Council, passed away this morning after a prolonged illness. He was 73.

Engineer, who had been admitted to Lilavati Hospital for a few weeks, breathed his last at his home in Santacruz.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari spoke of his “valuable contribution” in a statement.

“In his lifetime, through outstanding scholarship and activism, Dr Engineer championed the cause of peace, non-violence and communal harmony. His valuable contribution towards promoting secularism and interfaith harmony are particularly noteworthy. His liberal, rational views, based on his deep understanding of Islam and Islamic jurisprudence, are most pertinent in our times,” Ansari said.

Engineer was born into a priestly Dawoodi Bohra family in Rajasthan on March 10, 1940. A graduate in civil engineering from Vikram University in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, he acquired training in Islamic jurisprudence, hadith, or the preachings of the Prophet, as well as Quranic tafseer, or commentary. He eventually led the Progressive Dawoodi Bohra movement to bring reforms in the community.

After graduating, Engineer took up a job with the Bombay Municipal Corporation. While working there, he set up an organisation called Awaaz-e-Biradaran, or Voice of Brotherhood, after being shaken by a series of riots in the country. His work against communalism and communal violence continued till his death, with Engineer calling for a strong law to tackle the menace.

In 1993, after the attack on the Babri mosque, he founded the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism. He also set up the Institute of Islamic Studies in Mumbai.

He edited journals, contributed to newspapers and published 63 books that dealt with Islam, rights of Muslim women and communal and ethnic violence in India. He was conferred honorary doctorate degrees by Calcutta University in 1993 and by Jamia Millia Islamia central university, New Delhi, in 2008.

Engineer, who was voted as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world in 2009, was in 2005 nominated as a member of the National Integration Council. He was re-nominated in 2009.

“He supported eradication of the triple talaaq and was one of the few men who spoke in favour of rights of Muslim women,” said Zeenat Shaukat Ali, professor, Islamic studies, at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

Activist Teesta Setalvad said Engineer’s activities were “something to follow through” for young activists.

Engineer is survived by a son and a daughter. The funeral will be held tomorrow, family sources said.