Dr. Ausaf Ahmad, a prominent Indian economist, died in New Delhi on Thursday.
He is survived by his wife, son Altaf and three daughters, Tarannum, Sahar and Sumbul. He was 69 and diabetic. He will be buried on Friday.
Ahmad was known for his pioneering work in Islamic economics and was associated with the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) as a senior economist for more than two decades. He returned to India in 2005 and then joined Dr. Manzoor Alam’s Institute of Objective Studies (IOS).
Ahmad held a master’s degree in economics from Lucknow University, an M.Phil from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and a Ph.D in economics from Northern Illinois University in the United States, where he studied from 1974 to 1977. He also served at the historic Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia.
His research includes over 25 papers and 15 books. Many of these have been translated into other languages, including Urdu, Arabic, French and Italian. His main areas of research were economics of development, public finance, monetary policy and Islamic banking.
Some of his famous publications include Challenges Facing Islamic Banking, Structure of Deposits in Selected Islamic Banks, and Towards an Islamic Financial Market.
The Indian community in Jeddah reacted with shock at the news.
“He was a scholar par excellence and a wonderful human being,” said his close acquaintance Saleem Quadri, who works at the IDB. “This is very sad news,” he told Arab News while recalling many memorable sessions and anecdotes about him during his long stay in Jeddah.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Dr. Ausaf Ahmad, writer and editor Tariq Ghazi, journalist Mir Ayoob Ali Khan and scholar Ziauddin Nayyar captured the imagination of Indians and Pakistanis in Jeddah with their expertise on several critical issues.
They were the most sought after intellectuals at social and literary gatherings. At that time, the ambassador of India in Saudi Arabia was current Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari.
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