A Muslim scholar and chairman of the Institute of Objective Studies, Dr Muhammad Manzoor Alam passed away in Delhi on Tuesday, January 13, at the age of 80.
Dr Alam was born on October 9, 1945, in Rampur, Madhubani district of Bihar, and earned his doctorate in economics from Aligarh Muslim University. He had an illustrious career, serving as an economic advisor in Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance and as an Associate Professor in the Department of Islamic Economics at the University of Imam Mohammad-bin-Saud in Riyadh.
He also served as the General Secretary of the All India Milli Council and the President of the Muslim Social Sciences Association.
Among his other achievements, Alam was prominently known as the founding chairman of the Institute of Objective Studies (IOS).
According to their website, the IOS was established in 1986 with a view to promoting empirical and conceptual research. The institute aimed to “fill the academic vacuum in societal issues faced by Indian people in general and Muslims in particular.”
It provided a platform for intellectual endeavour in the areas of social sciences and humanities, and became a “trendsetter in the fields of conceptual and investigative research on the Qur’anic approach to human problems and the problems of Muslims in India.”
