Reputed Muslim scholar and formerJamaat-e-Islami Hind Amir Jalaluddin Umri passed away on Friday. He was 87 years old.
He died at 8.30 pm on Friday while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Delhi.
He was the Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind from 2007 to 2019 and authored several books. Being a founding member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, he also served as the vice chairman of the organisation. He has been the editor of an Urdu magazine, Tahqeeqat E Islami, for a quarter of a century.
Born in 1935 in Puttagram village in Tamil Nadu, he completed his religious education at Jamia Darussalam, a famous Islamic college. He went on to graduate from Madras University and pursue a master's from Aligarh Muslim University.
Jalaluddin Umri began his association with Jamaat-e-Islami Hind during his student years and worked with the research department after completing his education. He became a member of Jamaat-e-Islami in 1956 and served as the city's Amir of Jama'at of Aligarh for a decade. He was the editor of its monthly Zindagi-e-Nau for five years and later became the All-India deputy amir. He served in the post for four consecutive terms (16 years).
He is Chancellor of Jamiatul Falah, Azamgarh, and Managing Director of Sirajul Ulum Niswan College, Aligarh. He held the posts of Jamaat-e-Islami Central Representative, Chancellor of Warangal Jamiat Suffa in Andhra Pradesh, and Chairman of Islamic Service Trust in Kerala.
Jalaluddin Umri was widely considered to be an authority on human rights and the Muslim family system in the Islamic circles of India. He wrote many books in Urdu and several of them were translated into various languages.