Ghulam Mustafa Khan


Ghulam Mustafa Khan, SI was a researcher, literary critic, linguist, author, scholar of Urdu literature and linguistics, educationist and religious and spiritual leader belonging to Naqshbandi order of Sufism.

Life and services

He was born in Jabalpur, India on 23 September 1912. In 1928 he finished his ninth grade from Anjuman Islamia High School, Jabalpur and went to Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh for the rest of his education. He received his higher education at the Aligarh Muslim University. He held LLB and M.A. in Urdu literature & Persian and completed his PhD on 12th-century Persian poet Syed Ashruddin Hassan Ghaznavi in 1947. In 1959, he was awarded D.Litt. by Nagpur University, India.
During his life he was appointed as a lecturer at the King Edward College, Amrawati and after migration to Pakistan from India he was appointed in Urdu College, Karachi. Later in his life, he also performed the duties of head of the department of Urdu in Sindh University. For his academic services he was honoured with various level of awards, including the Naqoosh award, Iqbal award and Nishan-i-Sipas.
He published a number of research papers and a quantity of books, translations and compilations, numbering about ninety three. His book on Iqbal and Quran was awarded as the best book ever written on this subject and was awarded the Gold Medal Award by Idara-e-Adbiat, Pakistan.
Ghulam Mustafa was a renowned religious and spiritual leader. His students included famous scholars such as Ibn-e-Insha, Jameel Jalibi, Abul Lais Siddiqui, Aslam Farrukhi, Farman Fatehpuri, Moinuddin Aqeel, and Abul Khair Kashfi.

Books

He was author of more than 100 books in Arabic, Persian, Urdu and English. Some of his notable publications include:
Ghulam Mustafa Khan died on 25 September 2005 at age 93. Many literary organizations and two universities that he was personally associated with expressed sorrow over his death. Iftikhar Arif, then Chairman, Pakistan Academy of Letters said that his death would significantly affect the research work in the field of literature.
Vice-Chancellor of University of Karachi in 2005, Pirzada Qasim called his death a blow to Urdu literature in Pakistan.

Awards and recognition