By: Nizam Hussain
AGRA, India: In an unprecedented move, the Aligarh Muslim University has appointed prominent Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad Naqvi, general secretary of Majlis-e-Ulama-e-Hind, as an adjunct faculty in Shia theology in the university for a year. He is among 12 faculty members drawn from across the globe who would be teaching AMU students, officials said.
According to AMU registrar Javaid Akhtar, though this was the first time that a cleric would be teaching students at AMU, Kalbe Jawad had been chosen for his expertise in the subject.
The university has informed Jawad about his appointment and he is likely to commence teaching from August 1, the registrar said.
Jawad is also a senior member of All India Muslim Personal law Board.
He is a prominent Shia Muslim cleric and scholar from Lucknow.
He led anti-government demonstrations in 1997 to lift a two-decade-old ban on the controversial Azadari processions in Lucknow and was arrested twice during the movement. Jawad is also famous for holding the biggest ever anti-US-Israel-Denmark rally in Lucknow.
Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875. The Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College became Aligarh Muslim University in 1920.The movement of Muslim awakening associated with Syed Ahmad Khan and M.A.O. College came to be known as Aligarh Movement.
The main campus of AMU is located in the city of Aligarh.
