Bangladesh life: Khurram Murad

The architect of current Islamic resurgence

Ustadh Khurram Murad (1932-1996) occupies a place of distinction in the intellectual firmament of contemporary Islam. A thinker, an orator and a prolific writer, he has been one of the architects of current Islamic resurgence.

While his da'wah activities began in Pakistan, he has been involved in the promotion of the Islamic movement in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. As a teacher and a da'iyah his speeches and thoughtful orations have inspired thousands of young men and women all over the world.

As chief of the training departments of the Jamiat, the Jamaat and as an active resource-person in training programmes in the UK and America, he played a key role in the character-building of the youth in the Islamic Movement. He also served as the Director General of the Leicester-based Islamic Foundation and was a household name among British Muslims throughout the seventies and eighties.

An author of over thirty works in Urdu and English, his thoughts have influenced two generations of Muslims all the world over.

Born in Bhopal, India in 1932, and migrated to Pakistan in 1948. He studied civil engineering at the University of Karachi (BEng. 1952), securing 1st place in the University, and went on to study in the University of Minnesota (USA) (MSc. 1958).

He worked as a leading consulting engineer in Karachi, Dhaka, Tehran and Riyadh. Associated Consulting Engineers Ltd., with which he worked as a chief engineer and resident director, was responsible for the initial design and electrification of the extension of the Masjid al-Haram, Makkah and Khurram Murad played an important role in the formulation and implementation of the plans for extension of the Haram.

Khurram Murad's whole life, from early boyhood to his last moment, was dedicated to the service of the Islamic movement . He was initiated in the Jamaat-e-Islami, Bhopal, as a student and joined Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, Pakistan, immediately after his arrival in Karachi in November 1948.

In 1992, he was appointed editor of the monthly Tarjumanal Qur'an, Lahore, (an epoch making journal founded by the renowned Islamic scholar, Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi in 1932).

Over four hundred audio and video cassettes of Khurram Murad are in circulation in Pakistan and different parts of the Muslim World. Khurram Murad was involved in Islamic da'wah and inter-faith dialogue in the West for the last twenty years. In this connection, he addressed dozens of conferences and seminars. His contributions in initiating and promoting strategic thinking on da'wah issues in Muslim countries as well as in countries where Muslims are in a minority have been immense. As a leader of the Islamic Movement of Pakistan, which struggled for the democratic rights of the people, he was detained in prison without trial in 1964 in Dhaka for three months.

His death came on Thursday 19th December 1996 (9th Sha'ban 1417 AH) at the Glenfield Hospital, Leicester.

Some of his works in English are: