Pakistani Banker, wrongly portrayed as militant, defends PhD thesis

Banker, wrongly portrayed as militant, defends PhD thesis
The News, June 16, 2009
By Yousaf Ali

PESHAWAR: A banker, who had wrongly been projected as terrorist by the NWFP government in the advertisement that announced head money for the top 21 militants fighting security forces in restive Swat valley, Monday defended his PhD thesis and thus qualified for the highest academic degree from the University of Peshawar.

Mohammad Mushtaq, who serves as a research officer at the Sharia Department of the Bank of Khyber, did his PhD thesis on “Islami Bankari: Aik Fiqhi Jaiza” under the supervision of Dr Ziaullah Al-Azhari, a PhD degree holder on Islamic economy from Jamia Al-Azhar, Egypt.

Mushtaq, whose photograph had been published in place of Qari Mushtaq, a Taliban commander, got admission to the department of Islamic Studies, University of Peshawar for PhD in 2004-05. Son of Haji Rustam Shah, the young researcher had made a remarkable research on the topic that made his external examiners to request him to allow translation of the thesis in a foreign language and officially published in Brunei Darussalam. One of the external examiners of Mohammad Mushtaq was Prof Dr Anwarullah, who is Islamic Legal Advisor to the Minister for Religious Affairs, Brunei Darussalam, in his comment on the thesis, sought permission of the researcher to translate the document into Brunei language and publish it in the country officially. His other examiner Dr Abdul Ghaffar, Director, Georgia Islamic Institute America, has recommended to the UoP to publish and project the good work done by Mushtaq.

Mohammad Umer, former chairman of the department of Islamic Studies, UoP, was his internal examiner. He also conducted the public defense of the thesis. Equally good in his training courses, Mohammad Mushtaq has secured score of 3.9 GPA in his doctorate course.

The main topics that Mushtaq has covered in his thesis include, history of Islamic banking, comparison of Islamic banking with conventional banking in Pakistan, an overview of Islamic mode of finance, alternative of insurance - Takaful - and its religious overview. A large number of faculty and students attended the public defense held at the UoP.