User:ZUBAIR HASAN

Prof. Dr. Zubair Hasan (b. 1932) completed his education in India obtaining M.A. in Economics, M. Com. and PhD degrees from the universities of Agra and Meerut. He joined as Professor of Islamic Economics and Finance at 'INCEIF' The Global University in Islamic Finance, Kuala Lumpur on July 1, 2008 after being a Senior Professor of Economics with International Islamic University, Malaysia (IIUM 1990-2008). Hasan joined the teaching profession in 1957 and has been lecturing without break at the higher education institutions now for the last 58 years.

Hasan has published several books including 'Theory of Profit'(1975) Vikas New Delhi, 'Introduction to Microeconomics: An Islamic Perspective (2006) Pearson Prentice Hall, Kuala Lumpur,'Macroeconomics' (2009)Oxford University Press); "Fundamentals of Microeconomics" (2011 Oxford University Press), "Islamic Banking and Finance: An Integrative Approach" (2014, Oxford University Press) and "ECONOMICS with Islamic orientation" (2015 Oxford University Press). In addition, Hasan has published numerous articles in academic journals of repute and presented papers at scores of local and international workshops, seminars and conferences. on topics in Economics and Finance. Many of his articles, reviews, and comments are available on the internet: <Zubair Hasan at IDEAS>.

Among others, Prof Hasan won the prestigious Islamic Development Bank prize for Islamic Economics (unshared) in 2009 for his outstanding contributions to Islamic Economics and Finance. For the same reason he has got the OIC/COMCEC Academic Award 2014 at Istanbul. After retirement from INCEIF on June 30, 2015, Hasan has been awarded the Professor Emeritus title at the 7th Convocation of INCEIF on October 24, 2015 in recognition of the outstanding services he has rendered to the Institution during his tenure with them. His affiliation with INCEIF continues in that capacity. The full text of the speech Hasan delivered on the occasion is given below, though it was shortened due to time limitation on the occasion.

Professionally an economist,Zubair Hasan has a passion for Urdu poetry. He has recently published (2006) a collection of his compositions in a book entitled as AIENA (The mirror), Modern Publishing House, Gola Market, Darya Ganj, New Delhi-110002, India

    AWARD ACCEPTANCE SPEECH 24.10.2015 AT INCEIF                            

Honorable Tan Seri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz INCEIF Chancellor and BNM Governor, honorable Daud Vicarey Abdullah INCEIF President and CEO, worthy colleagues, esteemed guests, and my dear students.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of independent India, once wrote in a letter to a friend: “Appreciation is the right of merits”. I read this letter when 20 in a book my father published. The sentence somehow remained stuck with me. And on my long journey to the year 83, I saw more violation of the norm than compliance, in every walk of life, including education.

Ladies and gentlemen

I recall the Maulana on this occasion in gratitude to Allah (swt). For He in His Mercy granted me recognitions big or small from my school days through the profession till this day. I accept with all humility and gratitude the celebrated Professor Emeritus title, INCEF awards me on this solemn function of their 7TH Convocation. My seven year stay with them has been enjoyable, productive and rewarding. For this I am grateful to the INCEIF community including administrators, the academia and the support staff for their helpful sweet cooperation. I shall only be glad to maintain a link with INCEIF if possible and render if required any service to the institution I am capable.

Contextually, I shall be failing in my duty if I do not express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for our towering PCEO in whom I found an epitome of gentleness, accommodation, patience, efficiency and recognition for merit. He has a longing for carrying INCEIF fast to newer and newer heights, making Malaysia a progressive and noticeable global thought leaser in the area of Islamic finance. The achievements under his leadership are too obvious for description. May Allah grant him further success in his laudable mission.

Ladies and gentlemen

APJ Abudul Kalam - the late President of India - once said: “Dreams are not those that we see in our sleep. Dreams are those that do not let us sleep”. Such dreams create visions for individuals, institutions and nations to fix up their missions. Fulfillment of a mission demands conviction, passion, commitment, teamwork, and toil. Single minded mission pursuit makes a school dropouts like Mohammad Rafi the singer of the century, a railway station tea seller, the Prime Minister of India.

Achieving excellence in the field of education is the greatest of all missions. Education is the key to all progress and prosperity. The Holy Qur’an opened with exhortation to read. Alas! Muslims left education with the passage of time, the leadership of the world left them. Thus, going back to education in a big way can alone lead to a retrieval. Keynes once wrote: “Economic theory is not a body of settled conclusions immediately applicable to policy. Rather, it is an attitude of mind a way of thinking that helps its possessor analyze situations to produce solutions”. Thus, education is what is left in you after you have forgotten all your class room lessons. Important is what sort of a person education makes you that is, are you committed to a noble cause, lofty ideals or it is the other way round? Development in Islam is the development of human personality with virtues of self-respect, creativity humanism and willingness to suffer and sacrifice for upholding lofty ideals.

Ladies and gentlemen,

If education is the key for desired Islamic achievements, then what should be the goals content and direction of education policy and programs in Muslim countries? I am not competent nor have time to elaborate. However, I put forward some random thoughts for your consideration. Muslim lands are now free but unfortunately our intellect is still not. Education policies, course structures and reading materials evolve in the West in response to their domestic needs goals aspirations and doctrinal moorings. In most developing countries, Muslim all the more, Western policy frameworks are imported even as the same are not commensurate with their social environs, goals, needs and ethos. We take pride in imitating foreigners, aspire to reach their standards and seek their recognition to match them. We do not start nor do we prefer to promote our own journals. In fact, we discourage our students with disdain from publishing in the locals. Those who do, later face discrimination in matters of employment and promotion. The rat race for publishing in foreign journals has made it become a fast expanding business. They charge handsome publication fees. Authors in developing countries tend to go in for group-writing to share the publication charge.

In my humble opinion, this aspect of our educational policy calls for an immediate and serious relook. Imitation might help but with discretion. How much our foreign publications are relevant to local conditions and for policy formulation needs research. Foreign linkage in social sciences education needs restraint; it must not be an avoidable drain on our meager exchange reserves. For that reason writing well-structured textbooks incorporating local issues, cases and illustrations with Islamic inputs is far more valuable than researches for publication in foreign journals.

Ladies and gentlemen

Finally, I believe that the Islamic maxim ‘benefit goes with liability’ is no less applicable to education than elsewhere. Here, it implies that the payment a teacher receives is not legitimate if one is not committed to promoting the students’ welfare in and outside the class; within of course professional confines. Let there be no grade inflation, for instance, to cover up inefficiency or laxity in the discharge of duties. Throughout my life students have been my first concern and the class room the best place to spend time; it inspires. It is gain at both the ends with no risk. Today, I publicly acknowledge that my students have contributed no less to my humble achievements than I did to theirs’. I thank them all for their love and regard.

Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for your kind attention and patient hearing.

This page is meant to share his poetry with Urdu audience worldwide. Comments from readers are welcome. E-mail: <zubhasan@gmail.com> or <zubair@inceif.org> [[User:ZUBAIR HASAN] [User talk:ZUBAIR HASAN|talk]]) 09:56, 19 November 2007 (UTC)ZUBAIR HASAN