Famous Pakistani Intellectuals & Academics

Islamic scholar and philosopher Abul A'la Maududi was born into an elite Aurangabad family. He grew up to be fundamentalist who believed Islam should be free of Western influences and launched the Jamaʿat-i Islami. Though an important figure in Pakistani politics, he was also imprisoned for a while for opposing the government.

Jon Elia was a poet, biographer, philosopher, and scholar. Best remembered for his unconventional ways, Elia is widely regarded as one of the most important modern Urdu poets. Apart from writing in Urdu, Jon Elia was also fluent in several other languages including Sanskrit, Hebrew, English, and Persian.

Muhammad Iqbal was a Scholar, poet, and politician. Born in British India (present-day Pakistan), Iqbal's poetry in Persian and Urdu languages is regarded as one of the greatest of the modern era. Also an influential politician, Muhammad Iqbal's vision of an independent Muslim state helped inspire the creation of Pakistan where he is recognized as the national poet.

Hina Rabbani Khar is a Pakistani politician who became the first woman and the youngest person to serve as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan; she was in the office from 2011 to 2013. Prior to serving as the Foreign Minister, Hina Rabbani Khar also became the first female politician to present the national budget in 2009 while serving as the Minister of Finance of Pakistan.   

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi is a Pakistani Muslim theologian, Islamic modernist, Quran scholar, and educationist. He is also the founding president of the Islamic research institute Al-Mawrid Institute of Islamic Sciences and its sister organization Danish Sara. Currently, he is the principal research fellow of the Ghamidi Center of Islamic Learning in the United States.  

Javid Iqbal was a Pakistani philosopher whose publications on modern Islamic philosophy and the philosophy of law in national and international journals earned international acclaim. Javid Iqbal also served as the Lahore High Court's Chief Justice from 1982 to 1986. From 1986 to 1989, he served as the Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

A prominent Pakistani spiritual leader, Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi pioneered movements such as RAGS International, later renamed the Messiah Foundation International. He also penned numerous books, such as Deen-e-Ilahi, or The Religion of God, and Taryaq e Qalb, the latter being a book on Sufi poems.

Meher Ali Shah was a Sufi scholar best remembered as the leader of the anti-Ahmadiyya movement. A prolific writer, Shah's Saif e Chishtiyai which criticizes Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's Ahmadiyya movement is counted among his best known literary works. In its Sufi saint series in 2013, Pakistan Post released a commemorative postage stamp to pay tribute to Meher Ali Shah.

Ayesha Jalal is a Pakistani-American historian. She currently serves as the Mary Richardson Professor of History at Tufts University. Born in Pakistan, she moved abroad as a young girl and received her doctorate in history from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge before beginning her career as an academic. She received the 1998 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.  

Ishaq Dar is a Pakistani former politician who served as the Minister of Finance of Pakistan on four occasions between 1998 and 2017. He also served as the Federal Minister for Commerce from 1997 to 1999. Ishaq Dar is also a professional chartered accountant who has worked in several public and private sector organizations.

Moeed Yusuf is a national security scholar from Pakistan. From 2021 to 2022, he served as the National Security Adviser and worked closely with the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Before joining the government, Moeed Yusuf had taught Political Science at several prestigious institutions like the George Washington University, Boston University, and Lahore University of Management Sciences.

Mahbub ul Haq was a Pakistani economist and international development theorist turned politician. He served as the Minister of Finance of Pakistan from April 1985 to January 1986. He studied at the University of Cambridge in England on a scholarship and received his Ph.D. from Yale University in the United States before returning to Pakistan.   

Vasubandhu was an Indian Buddhist scholar and monk from Gandhara. A co-founder of the Yogachara school, Vasubandhu is also counted among the Seventeen Nalanda Masters for his contribution to Nalanda university. His commentary on the Abhidharma is widely used in East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism as the most important source for non-Mahayana Abhidharma philosophy.

Munir Ahmad Khan was a Pakistani nuclear physicist. He is also known as the "father of the atomic bomb program" of Pakistan for his role in the development of the country’s nuclear weapons. He served as the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) chairman from 1972 to 1991. He was posthumously honored with the Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Order of Excellence).   

Israr Ahmed was a Pakistani philosopher, Islamic theologian, and Islamic scholar. He is credited with founding an influential Islamic organization called Tanzeem-e-Islami, which has attracted followers from North America, Western Europe, and Middle East. Many of his books have been translated into various other languages. In 1981, Israr Ahmed was honored with the prestigious Sitara-i-Imtiaz by the President of Pakistan.

Talib Jauhari was a Pakistani poet, Islamic scholar, historian, and philosopher. Best remembered for his association with the Shia sect of Islam, Jauhari is widely regarded as the most important Shia scholar. Talib Jauhari's contributions earned him the prestigious Sitara-i-Imtiaz from the Government of Pakistan.

Akhtar Hameed Khan was a Pakistani social scientist and development practitioner. He advocated for community participation in development and promoted participatory rural development in Pakistan. He is best known for establishing the Comilla Model (1959) for rural development. He was honored with the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his contributions to society. He was multilingual and authored numerous books.  

Akbar S. Ahmed is a Pakistani-American academic, author, poet, and playwright. He is a professor of international relations at the American University in Washington, D.C., and also holds the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies. He has been a professor at several North American educational institutions, including Princeton University and Harvard University. He is a recipient of the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz.  

Ehsan Danish was a Pakistani poet, linguist, prose writer, scholar, and lexicographer. Widely regarded as one of the best poets, Danish is remembered for his revolutionary poems for the laborers and the oppressed, which earned him the title Shair-e-Mazdoor. In 1978, Ehsan Danish was honored by the President of Pakistan with the prestigious Sitara-e-Imtiaz.