Mian Mohammad Sharif (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' TI was a Pakistani philosopher, Islamic scholar, and college professor. He is noted for his work in analytical philosophy and pioneered the idea of Muslim philosophy. His work was published in international philosophical journals.Muslim thought: its origin and achievements - by M. M. Sharif
Boston University website, Published in 2013, Retrieved 20 November 2017 He remained politically active with the

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties Subcontinent ; British India *All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan. **Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...

and advocated for the

idea In common usage and in philosophy, ideas are the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophers have considered ideas to be a fundamental ontological category of bei ...

of establishing a separate state in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, meaning a separate new state of Pakistan for the Muslims. He remained a member of the

Islamic Ideology Council Council of Islamic Ideology (CII; ( ur, ) is a constitutional body of Pakistan, responsible for giving legal advice on Islamic issues to the government and the Parliament. This body was founded in 1962 under the government of Ayub Khan. Funct ...

and taught at Islamia College, Lahore for the rest of his life.

Early life and career

Mian Mohammad Sharif was born in the suburban area of Lahore, situated in Shalimar Garden of

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

British Punjab Punjab was a province of British India. Most of the Punjab region was annexed by the East India Company in 2 April 1849, and declared a province of British Rule, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British co ...

British Indian Empire The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himse ...

, in 1893. Sharif was educated at the

Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College ( ur, Madrasatul Uloom Musalmanan-e-Hind, italics=yes) was founded in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, initially as a primary school, with the intention of taking it to a college level institution, known as Muhammed ...

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the cap ...

and the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) where he studied Philosophy. He received a BA degree in Philosophy from the AMU before moving to the United Kingdom for higher education. Settled at the

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, Sharif began attending the graduate school of philosophy at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

where he completed his MA and did his doctoral studies under English philosopher

G. E. Moore George Edward Moore (4 November 1873 – 24 October 1958) was an English philosopher, who with Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein and earlier Gottlob Frege was among the founders of analytic philosophy. He and Russell led the turn from ideal ...

. His interest in realism and analytic philosophy widened and Sharif wrote on Monadism which was supervised by Moore as his PhD thesis. After receiving his PhD, his interest shifted to

Western Philosophy Western philosophy encompasses the philosophical thought and work of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the pre-Socratics. The word ' ...

and he said "Philosophy must find a place for the sciences in the systematic whole of knowledge." After returning to British India, he chaired the philosophy department of the AMU and briefly participated in the

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

. In 1945, he was appointed President of the Indian Philosophical Congress until he moved to Lahore to accept the professorship of philosophy at the Punjab University. In 1950, he founded and served as the first president of'Pakistan Philosophical Congress, and remained associated with the society for the rest of his life. This organisation played a role in reviving interest in the study of modern philosophy.Philosophy in mumbo-jumbo land
Dawn (newspaper), Published 4 May 2006, Retrieved 21 November 2017 In addition, he also served as principal of Islamia College, Lahore and Director of the

Institute of Islamic Culture The Institute of Islamic Culture is an independent non-governmental institute and publishing house of Islamic studies in Lahore, Pakistan. It was established in Lahore in 1950 for the purpose of conducting scientific and research studies on vari ...

based in Lahore. In 1956, he represented Pakistan in the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

conference held in the United States. He was a member of the

American Philosophical Association The American Philosophical Association (APA) is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarl ...

(Pacific Division) and a Director of the

International Federation of Philosophical Societies The International Federation of Philosophical Societies (French: ''Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie'', FISP) is a world organization for learned societies in philosophy. Its member-societies arguably include every country ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. He already was the Founder-Life-President of the Pakistan Philosophical Congress. Sharif died and was buried in Lahore in 1965.

References

Annotations and bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharif, M.M. 1893 births 1965 deaths 20th-century Pakistani philosophers Analytic philosophers Aligarh Muslim University alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge 20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Pakistan Movement activists Academic staff of Aligarh Muslim University Pakistani Muslims People from Lahore Philosophers of language Punjabi people Recipients of Tamgha-e-Imtiaz Members of the Pakistan Philosophical Congress Academic staff of the University of the Punjab