Prof. Dr. Khurshid Ahmed
A visionary leader, activist, academic, pioneer in Islamic economics, author, politician, an inspiration for youth, and a role model for family life.

Two days ago, a great scholar of the Indian subcontinent, Prof. Dr. Khurshid Ahmed, passed away in the UK at the age of 93. When Prof. Khurshid Ahmed was born, the Indian subcontinent was one united nation. When he migrated to the UK as a student in the early 1960s, it had become two divided nations—India and Pakistan. By the time he completed his higher education, the subcontinent had further divided into three nations—India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Prof. Khurshid once shared this unique historical experience with me during a conversation at the Islamic Foundation in Leicester, UK, in early 2001.

While I was pursuing my higher education at the Markfield Institute of Higher Education, a subsidiary of the Islamic Foundation, I had many occasions to interact with Prof. Khurshid. I sought his guidance and advice for my studies, community work, and Da’wah activities. He was a highly pragmatic scholar, with both deep academic knowledge and active engagement woven into his personality. I was greatly inspired by his visionary approach and guidance.

He once explained to me that there are two types of scholars: one is the “fish type”—those who remain confined to their own circle or zone, mostly lacking practical experience. The other is the “frog type”—those who live both in water and on land, meaning their thoughts are rooted in both theory and practice. These are the most pragmatic scholars. He advised us to be of the second type, as he himself embodied this approach. That is why he was able to inspire and produce thousands of scholarly youth who became leaders in many nations. May Allah accept all his good deeds, Insha’Allah.

In early 2002, I went to invite him to the first-ever inaugural gathering of the Sri Lanka Islamic Forum UK, held at the Markfield Institute of Higher Education, Leicester. I asked him: “In your opinion, what is the most important area we should focus on, as the Sri Lankan Muslim community is an emerging young community in the UK?” He replied that we should focus on maintaining the family institution, as it is very challenging in the West to safeguard family structure. He said, “The collapse of the family is like the collapse of a building’s foundation.” He further explained that the family is the only divine social institution; all others are man-made. Therefore, in order to safeguard all social institutions, the family must be preserved.

This noble advice remained alive throughout our Da’wah and community activities at SLIF UK. Inspired by it, we organized all our Annual Conferences as family events—for men, women, youth, children, and community leaders all together. It was a very successful model that we implemented until I was leading SLIF UK.
We continue to witness the immense impact of this inspiration on the Sri Lankan Muslim community even today, Alhamdulillah. The role of Prof. Khurshid undoubtedly had a huge influence across all the fields in which he excelled.

May Allah forgive him, have mercy on him, elevate his ranks, and grant him the highest place in Jannatul Firdaws.
اللهم اغفر له وارحمه، وعافه واعف عنه، وأكرم نزله، ووسع مدخله، واغسله بالماء والثلج والبرد، ونقه من الخطايا كما ينقى الثوب الأبيض من الدنس.
Ameen