RIYADH, 19 September — Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, has made a donation for an ambitious project to set up a full-fledged Islamic research center in India.
With the help of funds donated by Prince Sultan, a spacious building has already been purchased to set up a chapter of the Riyadh-based Abdul Aziz ibn Baz Islamic Research Center in the Indian capital New Delhi.
The research center has already started functioning in Riyadh.
"The opening of the center will expedite a major project for the compilation of the works of the late sheikh," said Dr. Mohammed Luqman Salafi, chief researcher at the office of the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia. He said the compiled works of Sheikh Ibn Baz will shed new light on contemporary Islamic research.
Luqman, a disciple of Ibn Baz, is the founder president of Ibn Baz Research Center.
The center, he said, has started publication of two magazines — Tooba and Al-Furqan — now being distributed in Saudi Arabia and abroad.
Luqman’s personal efforts have led to the publication of some 50 books on a range of contemporary issues in Arabic, English, Urdu and Hindi.
Luqman himself is credited with writing a number of books, including a translation of the meaning of the Holy Qur’an. "My 36-year stint at the Grand Mufti’s office helped me interact with a large number of Saudi and foreign scholars. This eventually helped me to write books after books," said Luqman.
He said the Kingdom has also extended support to set up the prestigious Imam Ibn Taimiyah University in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. This Islamic institution with a campus sprawling over an area of 24 acres in East Champaran, some 700 kilometers east of New Delhi, has a total of 1,500 students currently on its rolls.
Luqman thanked Saudi and Indian governments for extending full support for setting up such an educational project in eastern India.
The university is offering primary, secondary, undergraduate and post-graduate courses. The campus also houses Moulana Abul Kalam Azad Technical College, a girls college, a mosque and a madrasa for Qur’an learning.
Luqman, who still works for Darul Ifta besides devoting substantial time and energy for the three chapters of Ibn Baz Research Center, is currently writing two major books — one on the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and the other on Jihad.
The 60-year-old Islamic scholar, who holds a doctorate degree from the Riyadh-based Imam Muhammed ibn Saud Islamic University, has traveled across the world representing Saudi Arabia at religious convocations, seminars and various dawa activities.
