Ishtiyaq Ahmad Zilli

Who is Ishtiyaq Ahmad Zilli?

Prof. Ishtiyaq Ahmad Zilli, Director/Secretary of Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy, Azamgarh India and President of Idarah Ulumul Quran, Aligarh India is a Historian, Islamic, Quranic scholar and Professor at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh India.

Prof. Ishtiyaq Ahmad Zilli has retired as Professor of History from Aligarh Muslim University. He obtained the degree of Al-Fazilat from Madrasatul Islah and after a brief stint at Islamic University, Medina completed B.A. from Lucknow University. He did his M.A., M.Phil and Ph.D. in History from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. His area of specialization is historiography, Muslim religious thought and medieval Indian history, particularly the Delhi Sultanate. He is also the founding President of Idarah Ulum Al Quran and Founding Editor of Majallah Ulum Al Quran, a six monthly journal of Idarah Ulum Al Quran, since 1984. The distinctive feature of Ulum al Quran is its specialization in Quranic Studies. From editorial to the newsletter, every section of the journal is related to the Quran. It contains a news section that covers news related to Quran in any way and the developments taking place in the area of Quranic Studies including seminars and conferences on any theme connected with the Quranic Studies. Another feature of Ulum al Quran is that it contains abstract in English language. Today there are many journals specialising in Quranic Studies but Ulum al Quran is perhaps the first journal in any language specialising in Quranic Studies. He is also serving as Editor of Urdu Monthly Ma’arif since March 2008. Ma’arif has the distinction of uninterrupted publication for the past 90 years since 1916. The journal specializes in Islamic studies, Urdu literature, and Indo-Islamic civilization. It is respected for the standard of scholarship and research it has maintained. Frequently, the articles published in the journal are reproduced and referred in reputable research journals and books.He has been on editorial board of many journals including Tahzibul Akhlaq and Journal of Persianate Studies.He is still on the editorial board of the Journal of Persianate Studies. He is member of Association for the Study of Persianate Societies, New York and Iranology Foundation, Tehran, Iran. On 16 February 2008 he was elected as Secretary & Director, Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy, Azamgarh. This is a rare event when someone from outside of Darul Musannefin has taken the leadership responsibilities. His most recent book is "The Mughal State And Culture 1556-1598 : Selected Letters And Documents From Munshaat-I-Namakin". In 2004, he participated in Building Bridges Seminar, hosted by Archbishop of Canterbury at Georgetown University, Washington DC, U.S.A. In 2006, University of Chicago invited him to deliver a talk on "Maulana Shibli' critique of Muslim league". He has been invited for lecture to Leiden University and participated in seminars in Paris, Tangiers, Dushanbe, Tehran, Preston University and Chicago, U.S.A.