Nazeer Ahmed (also known as Rank Nazeer) is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

Muslim scholar, politician, historian and translator and founder-author of the Encyclopedia of Islamic History. He is a former politician of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

, a former Member of Legislative Assembly from Karnataka, and Member of Karnataka Knowledge Commission,

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as GoK or GoKA, formerly known as Government of Mysore (1956–1974), is a democratically elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka ...

Early life

He was born in

Tumkur Tumkur, officially Tumakuru, is a city and headquarters of Tumakuru district in the Karnataka state of India. Tumkur is known for Siddaganga Matha. Tumkur hosts India's first mega food park, a project of the ministry of food processing. The Ind ...

in the state of

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

, India in 1939 to Abdul Azeem, an Islamic scholar of the

Qadiriyya The Qadiriyya () or the Qadiri order () is a Sunni Sufi order (''Tariqa'') founded by Abdul Qadir Gilani (1077–1166, also transliterated ''Jilani''), who was a Hanbali scholar from Gilan, Iran. The order, with its many sub-orders, is widesp ...

. In 1952, he achieved the first rank in the entire state of Mysore and won the Maharaja of Mysore Gold Medal. He has been known as “Rank Nazeer Ahmed” due to the consistency with which he ranked first in state and interstate exams. He entered the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

in 1961 as an Institute Scholar as well as a Tata Scholar. He was awarded MS and AeE degrees from Caltech. He worked in

Huntsville Huntsville is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the 100th-most populous city in the U.S. The Huntsville metropolitan area had an estimated 525,465 ...

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on the Saturn, Apollo and Lunar Land Rover Projects at the

Marshall Space Flight Center Marshall Space Flight Center (officially the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center; MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville postal address), is the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government's ...

in 1964–65. He obtained a PhD in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1967. Under Peter Drucker he studied management at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He then obtained an

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from

Rider University Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, United States. It consists of three academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which includes Westminster Choir Coll ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Teachers

He received his early religious training from Maulvi Abdul Quddus Qudsi, and he continues to be a student of

Nazim al-Haqqani Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil Al-Qubrusi Al-Haqqani (born Mehmet Nâzım Âdil; 21 April 1922 – 7 May 2014) (), commonly known as Shaykh Nazim (), was a Turkish Cypriot Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Muslim imam and one of the most influential ...

Political career

In 1977, he was elected a member of the

Karnataka Legislative Assembly The Karnataka Legislative Assembly (formerly the Mysore Legislative Assembly) is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Karnataka is one of the six states in India where the state legislature ...

from the 57th constituency but resigned a year later. In 1988 he was elected a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

, 42nd

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California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In 1992 he was a candidate for

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

, 46 CA Congressional District.

Charity work

The charities he founded in Tumkur, India, have given out millions in scholarships to poor children of all faiths and has built schools, mosques, and a unique Idgah with spiritual themes.

Books

Among his books are the following: * Islam in Global History, in two volumes was published in the United States and translated into

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. * The Qur'an: An English Translation, was done over a period of three years, between 2007 and 2010, although some of this work was done as early as 1972.

References

External links

History of Islam
– An encyclopedia of Islamic history, founded by ''Dr. Nazeer Ahmed'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Nazeer 1939 births Living people Kannada people People from Tumakuru district Karnataka MLAs 1978–1983 Indian National Congress politicians from Karnataka Indian National Congress (Organisation) politicians Cornell University alumni California Institute of Technology alumni Rider University alumni Translators of the Quran into English Indian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Indian Sufis