Khalid M. Ishaq

Khalid Muhammad Ishaq (16 August, 1926 – 07 February, 2004), Senior Advocate Supreme Court, was an eminent Pakistani jurist and scholar of law, Islamic studies and literature.

Education

He graduated with a degree in Arabic from DJ College in 1945. He received the first position in MA examinations given by the Bombay University. Later, he did his LLB, his institution being the SC Shahani Law College.

Life and career

Born on August 16, 1926 in Shikarpur, Sindh, he started legal practice in 1948. Prepared to work diligently he was soon noticed by the people who mattered. In 1958, when he was only 32 years of age, he was appointed Additional Advocate General of the then West Pakistan. Five years later, he was promoted as Advocate General. In 1964, Mr Ishaq decided to step down from that position and establish his own practice. He went on to practice civil law in the High Court of Sindh and the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He became president of the High Court Bar Association in 1965. He died in Karachi in 2004.

cholarship

Since Islam was his inspiration, his chief interest lay in Persian and Arabic. In 1965, he also became the project director of the Islamic Research Institute. He was a member of the Council of Islamic Ideology Pakistan from 1969 to 1972, and again from 1977 to 1980. He taught at the Sindh University from 1976 to 1977 as a Professor of Seerut-un-Nabi. He also appeared in scores of television programmes which dealt with legal and religious problems.

Mr Ishaq had arguably the largest collection of commentaries on the Holy Quran. His private library until 1999 boasted of 175,000 volumes, making him the proud owner of one of the biggest collection of books in Pakistan. In recent years many institutions had requested him to donate his collection but he simply refused to part with his books.

They were being donated to Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in 2005 or probably after his death. Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) has dedicated the whole of 1st floor of its library to him as a "Khalid Ishaque Wing" in recognition of the massive donation of books.

tudents and companions

Khalid Ishaque's contribution to the legal profession is nothing short of legendary. Men and women from his chambers are leading jurists in their own right. Among his associates who were elevated to the superior judiciary were Justice Abdul Qadir Sheikh, Justice Amir Raza, Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, Justice Majida Rizvi, the late Justice Nizam Ahmed, Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed, Justice Ghulam Nabi Soomro, Justice Mujeebullah Siddiqui, Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Mushtaq Memon.

An equally impressive array of men and women who cite Khalid Ishaque as their mentor, teacher and colleague now lead the fight for an independent judiciary, command the corporate law world, and continue to make an indelible mark on the legal profession. Abdul Hafeez Lakho, Muneer Malik, Shehenshah Hussain, Ahsan Zaheer Rizvi, Khalid Ibrahim, Abdul G. Soomro, Abid Zuberi and Khalid Ishaque's own son, Sohaib, to name a few, are some of the other leading names associated with Khalid Ishaque's law chambers.

Renowned scholar Prof. Dr. Khalida Ghous did her Ph. D. under his supervision.

References

http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/24/letted.htm#8

http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/13/letted.htm#1

http://www.dawn.com/2005/05/22/local10.htm

http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/25/local13.htm

http://www.pakistantimes.net/2004/02/08/top10.htm

http://www.dawn.com/2004/02/10/local13.htm