Professor, Major Dr. Muhammad Ihsanullah Khan
M.A, L.L.B (Aligarh University, Uttar Pradesh), Ph.D. Phil (Bonn University, Bonn, Germany); Fellow of the Alexander Von-Humboldt’s Research Institute (Berlin), P.E.S (I).
He was born in 1906 to a noble family of landlords in the town of Umerzai in the Charsadda District of the then North West Frontier Province of undivided India. His father, Al Hajj Hafiz Khan Ubaidullah Khan, was a well-reputed and prominent figure in his community. He retired from the Imperial Police in Bombay as a senior superintendent in 1938 and was then appointed as commandant to raise the Pioneer Force Battalion in Peshawar.
In 1913/14, Dr. Ihsanullah Khan enrolled in Islamia Collegiate as one of the pioneering students, which was established in 1913. He completed his matriculation in 1924 from Islamia Collegiate, and by 1928, he graduated from Islamia College. In 1930, he completed his degree of Master of Arts in Philosophy from Aligarh University, and by 1932, he had also graduated from Aligarh University with a Bachelor of Law and Letters (L.L.B.). In 1933, he applied to Bonn University, Germany, for higher education. Following his admission, Dr. Ihsanullah Khan took a Diploma in German language after which he did his research for 6 years and achieved a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Bonn University in 1938. Subsequently, he moved back to his home country.
Upon his arrival, he was one of the very few Ph.D. holders and was promptly approached by Islamia College in 1939 for his expertise in the subject of philosophy, where, with his efforts, a department of philosophy was established. Dr. Ihsanullah Khan was appointed as their pioneer professor, where he served for almost a decade educating the Pashtoon community. While holding the rank of professor at Islamia College, he was requested to join the Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul, in 1948, immediately after the partition of the subcontinent, to head the Social Sciences Department, where he was awarded the rank of major as well. He served in P.M.A. for almost 5 years, after which his services were requested again by the Government of Pakistan to accept the role of the first principal of Government College, Abbottabad. Later on, Dr. Khan was appointed as principal of Government Degree College, Kohat, where he spent his last years of service as a staunch professor in spreading education in the then N.W.F.P. and now K.P.K.
He was an eminent Muslim scholar and educationist, especially on the subjects of Islamic teachings, realism, and communism. Dr. Ihsanullah Khan contributed a lot to research in philosophy and has 18 publications in reputed journals of his time, such as the famous ‘The Islamic Review’ journal/magazine in their October issue of 1951, with the title of his publication being ‘Private Property, Morality, and Communism,’ and another in the June issue of 1960 by the title of ‘Communism and Islam Contrasted,’ to name a few of his many other publications. He was a formidable bibliographer of learned articles, & any student of Islamic apologetics or of East-West intellectual relations would do well to consider his work.
I wish the very best of luck to all aspiring candidates who wish to become a part of the expanding community of Dr. Ihsanullah Khan Medical Institute.