Islamic Months: Merits and Precepts

The following is a short e-book on the Islamic months and their merits and precepts. It was compiled by Mufti Taqi Usmani of Karachi, Pakistan. The following is a profile of Mufti Taqi:

Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani was born in 1943 in Deoband, India. He is the son of the late Maulana Mufti Muhammad Shafi, the former Grand Mufti of Pakistan. He obtained his Takhassus degree (an advanced degree equivalent to Ph.D.) in Islamic education from Darul Uloom Karachi, the largest and most renowned Islamic educational institution in Pakistan. He also obtained a Master’s degree in Arabic literature from Punjab University, and a law degree (LLB) from Karachi University.

He is regarded as an expert in the fields of Hadith (sacred traditions of the Holy Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), Economics, and Tasawwuf (Islamic spirituality). He has been teaching these and other branches of Islamic education since 1959.

He served as Judge of the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan from 1982 to May 2002. He is also a permanent member of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, an organ of OIC based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He has served as the Vice Chairman of the Academy for nine years. He is also the Vice President of Darul Uloom Karachi.

He is generally known as one of the leading Shariah scholars active in the field of Islamic finance. For more than a decade he has served as chairman or member of Shariah supervisory boards of a dozen Islamic banks and financial institutions in various parts of the world. He presently serves as Chairman of the International Shariah Council for the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) in Bahrain.

He has held many positions in the higher echelons of the education sector of Pakistan and has participated in numerous commissions set up by the government of Pakistan in the field of education and economics. Since 1967, he’s been the Chief Editor of the monthly Urdu-language magazine “Albalagh”, and since 1990, he’s been Chief Editor of the monthly English-language magazine “Albalagh International.” He has also contributed articles to leading Pakistani newspapers on a range of issues. He has authored more than 60 books in Arabic, English, and Urdu.

Positions Holding: • Vice President and Shaikul-Hadith, Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi • Chairman, International Shariah Standard Council set up by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions, Bahrain. • Permanent Member, International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Jeddah, sponsored by OIC. • Member, Islamic Fiqh Academy of Rabita-al-‘Alam-e-Islami, Makkah • Chairman, Centre for Islamic Economics, Pakistan since 1991

Positions Held in the Past: • Judge, Shariat Appellate Bench, Supreme Court of Pakistan from 1982 to May 2002 • Judge, Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan from 1980 to 1982 • Member, Syndicate University of Karachi 1985 to 1988 • Member, Board of Governors, International Islamic University Islamabad, 1985 to 1989. • Member, International Institute of Islamic Economics 1985 to 1988 • Member, Council of Islamic Ideology 1977 to 1981 • Member, Board of Trustees International Islamic University, Islamabad 2004 to 2007 • Member, Commission for Islamisation of Economy of Pakistan.

Current Affiliated Institutions • Chairman Shariah Board, Central Bank of Bahrain • Chairman Shariah Board, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, U.A.E. • Chairman Shariah Board, Meezan Bank Ltd., Karachi, Pakistan • Chairman Shariah Board, Dubai Bank, Dubai • Chairman Shariah Board, International Islamic Rating Agency, Bahrain • Chairman Shariah Board, Swiss Re-Takaful, Switzerland • Chairman Shariah Board, Pak-Kuwait Takaful, Karachi • Chairman Shariah Board, Pak-Qatar Takaful, Karachi • Chairman Shariah Board, Bank Islami, Karachi • Chairman Shariah Board, JS Investments Islamic Fund, Karachi • Chairman Shariah Board, JS Islamic Pension Savings Fund • Chairman Shariah Board, Arif Habib Investments – Pakistan Intrnational Element Islamic Fund, Karachi • Member Shariah Board, Arcapita Bank, Bahrain • Member Shariah Board, Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), an organ of IDB Jeddah • Member Shariah Board, Guidance Financial Group, USA

Previous Affiliated Institutions • Member Shariah Board, Bank of Khyber, Peshawar • Chairman Shariah Board, European Islamic Investment Bank, UK (affiliation ended Dec 2008) • Chairman Shariah Board, Dow Jones Islamic Index, New York • Chairman Shariah Board, Saudi American Bank, Jeddah. • Chairman Shariah Board, Islamic House of Britain plc, UK • Chairman Shariah Board, HSBC Amanah Finance, Dubai • Chairman Shariah Board, Robert Fleming Oasis Fund, Luxemburg. • Chairman Shariah Board, Citi Islamic Invesment Bank, Bahrain. • Member Higher Shariah Board, Al-Baraka Group, Jeddah. • Member Shariah Board, Faysal Bank Ltd, Pakistan. • Member Shariah Board, ABC Investment Bank, Bahrain. • Member Shariah Board, Islamic Unit of United Bank of Kuwait, UK and USA

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