On Sunday 15 March 2026, corresponding to the blessed night of 26 Ramadan, at twelve fifteen at night, Dr Zeenath Kausar, a highly accomplished academic, activist and thinker passed away In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Her Janaza prayers were offered at the campus mosque of the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) and she was subsequently buried at the campus graveyard.
Dr Zeenath Kausar worked for a long time in the field of teaching and research and continued writing on her subjects, especially Islamic and Western political thought, women’s issues, and modern Western theories.
She analysed Western thought, especially feminism, and tried to understand its basic assumptions. In her writings, a comparative style is generally found, where on one side she presents Western theories and on the other side clarifies the Islamic point of view.
Education and teaching
Dr Zeenath Kausar belonged to the city of Hyderabad (Telangana) in India, where she obtained her early education. Later she obtained a Bachelor’s degree from Osmania University and completed a Master’s in Political Science from Sri Venkateswara. For higher education, she turned to Aligarh Muslim University, from where she obtained M Phil in 1986 and PhD in 1991.
After marrying a young man from Hyderabad, Dr Mumtaz Ali, who at that time was doing a PhD in Islamic Studies at Aligarh Muslim University, she moved with him to Malaysia, where she she pursued teaching and research for a long time in the Department of Political Science at the International Islamic University of Malaysia.
The academic environment of this institution played a prominent role in her intellectual formation. In later years, she also served at Qatar University.
From 1970 to 1980, during her education, she continued studying Allama Iqbal, Maulana Syed Abul A‘la Maududi, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Said Nursi, Ali Shariati, Dr Ismail Raji al-Faruqi, and Allama Yusuf al-Qaradawi among others.
However, she was most influenced by the thoughts of Maulana Maududi and his method of reasoning presenting Islam as a complete way of life and a system of living for modern times.
Dr Kausar does not appear impressed or overawed by the intellectual dominance of the West; rather, she presents the reality and truth of life on scholarly and scientific bases and appears critical at times of Western concepts and theories in many of her writings.
Intellectual thought
Along with teaching, Dr Zeenath Kausar continued the process of research and writing continuously. Her research topics include Islamic and Western political thought, critical review of Western ideologies such as modernity, globalization, feminism, etc, as well as women’s issues and modern intellectual debates.
She worked on different but interconnected subjects, due to which coherence and continuity are found in her thought and writings.
With regard to Islamic political thought, her effort has been that modern political concepts should be understood in the light of Islamic principles.
She emphasises that in order to understand any political system, it is necessary to keep in view the intellectual foundations behind it. Thus, she presents Islamic political thought as such a system which is not limited merely to the structure of power or state, but is connected with moral and social principles.
She has clarified this aspect in her writings, especially in “Political Development: An Islamic Perspective”, where modern concepts of political development have been reviewed through an Islamic context.
She studied Western ideologies. For example, in “Modern Political Ideologies: An Islamic Critique”, she considers modern Western ideas of freedom and individualism as the result of specific historical conditions of Europe.
In this way, she clarifies that every theory has its civilisational foundation, and transferring it to other societies without critical awareness can give rise to intellectual confusion.
Her intellectual position on feminism is also seen in her study of women and society. She sees Western feminism as an intellectual structure whose foundation is based on specific historical and social experiences.
In this regard, in her book “Women’s Empowerment and Islam” and research articles, it is made clear that limiting the issue of women only to the concept of equality is not sufficient; rather, it is necessary to see it together with family system, social balance, and moral values.
In analysing Western feminism, she draws attention to the fact that its foundation was laid in a particular historical background where women faced deprivation at social and legal levels for a long time.
With this background, the movement emphasised demands of equality and freedom, but with time a dimension developed in which the relationship between men and women were seen from the angle of conflict instead of mutual cooperation.
According to her, this is the point where the concept of feminism loses balance.
In contrast, Dr Zeenath Kausar presents the Islamic concept of position of women on a different foundation the status of woman is neither defined merely by a list of rights nor restricted to a single social role.
Rather, women are understood as part of a system where individual, family, and society are interconnected. In this context, she emphasises that women’s rights and responsibilities should be seen together with their natural roles and social balance, as she has clarified in her work “Women’s Empowerment and Islam.”
On this basis, in her thought, “equality” is not understood as “sameness” where as she explains that ignoring natural and social differences between men and women and insisting on complete sameness is neither practically possible nor beneficial for social balance.
Instead, she speaks of a balance in which recognising the positions and roles of both men and women, a harmonious system is established.
Analysis of books
If the scholarly services of Dr Zeenath Kausar are seen in their overall continuity, it becomes clear that her work takes the form of a regular intellectual project.
In her writings, on one side there is analysis and critique of Western ideologies, and on the other side clarification of Islamic principles, along with comparison between the two. These dimensions form the basic structure of her academic services.
A prominent aspect of her authorship is the critical study of Western ideologies. Her book “Modern Political Ideologies: An Islamic Critique” is an important effort in this regard, in which she examines Western political thoughts such as secularism and liberalism in their intellectual background.
Her mythology of study clarifies the internal structure and historical context of a theory, then reviews it in the light of Islamic principles.
Similarly, in “Colonisation to Globalisation”, she presents Western colonialism as a continuous process. She clarifies that colonialism was not only about occupying lands, but also about changing the intellectual and cultural foundations of local societies where changes in education systems, cultural preferences, and social structures were part of this process.
Through historical examples, it is shown that the colonial period affected not only political systems but also ways of thinking. That is why even after independence many societies could not fully come out of its influence, and its effects remained in different forms.
In this background, neo-colonialism is understood, where instead of direct control, influence is maintained through economic, intellectual, and cultural means. with the same continuity, globalisation is also seen from this angle.
Apparently, it seems like a system of global connection and cooperation, but the question is raised whether it really provides equal opportunities to all societies or promotes a particular system globally.
Another important dimension of her work is Islamic political thought, expressed in “Political Development: An Islamic Perspective,” where she reviews Western models and presents an alternative viewpoint based on Islamic principles.
On women and society, her books such as “Muslim Women at the Crossroads,” Women in Feminism and Politics: New Directions Towards Islamisation,” and “Women’s Empowerment and Islam” appear in a connected manner.
In these works, she analyses intellectual and social problems faced by Muslim women and considers how this discussion can be given a new direction in the light of Islamic principles.
She also continued presenting her ideas through research articles, with topics including critique of United Nations gender programs, effects of globalisation, and explanation of Islamic perspective in modern intellectual debates.
If all her work is seen together, it can be said that the central theme of her work is “understanding contemporary issues on Islamic foundations.”
Dr Zeenath Kausar with her husband Professor Mumtaz Ali.
Recognition
Dr Zeenat Kausar’s scholarly services were appreciated at different levels. Due to her continuous efforts in research and teaching, she was awarded Excellent Researcher, Quality Research Award (2002), and Outstanding Author Certificate by the International Islamic University Malaysia. She was also included in Marquis Who’s Who in the World.
She leaves behind her fellow academic husband Dr Mohammad Mumtaz Ali, Professor in the Department of Usul al-Din and Comparative Religion, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, IIUM, son, two daughters and four grandchildren.
Her attachment to academic work until the last days of her life is a sign that, according to her, knowledge was a continuous process. Her intellectual sensitivity towards the issues of the Ummah, especially the issue of Palestine, was also part of her scholarly awareness.
After her death, the need to study her work in a comprehensive perspective has become more evident, so that benefit can be taken from her writings and ideas.
This is an edited version of the original article for publication in AMUST.
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