Prominent philosopher of the Indian Subcontinent, Professor Seyyed Zafar ul-Hassan

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On June 19, 1949 AD, prominent philosopher of the Subcontinent, Seyyed Zafar ul-Hassan, passed away in Lahore, Pakistan, at the age of 64 years. He was educated at Allahabad and obtained doctorates from the universities of Erlangen and Heidelberg in Germany. He then became the first Muslim Scholar of the Subcontinent to obtain a PhD from Oxford University in Philosophy.
He started teaching at Aligarh Muslim University, India in 1911, and in 1913 became professor of philosophy at Islamia College, Peshawar in what is now Pakistan. From 1924 to 1945 he was professor of philosophy at the Aligarh Muslim University, where he also served as Chairman of the Department of Philosophy.
In 1939, he put forward the 'Aligarh Scheme' along with Dr Afzaal Hussain Qadri, titled "The Problem of Indian Muslims" proposing three independent states in the Subcontinent.
From 1945 until the partition of the country, he was Emeritus Professor at Aligarh. In August 1947, he migrated to Pakistan. He wrote many books including "Revelation and Prophet", "Message of Iqbal", and "Philosophy of Islam"