Iftikhar Hussain Ansari

Iftikhar Hussain Ansari
مولانا مولوى افتخار حسين انصارى
ConstituencyPattan, Baramulla, Kashmir
Personal details
Born26 April 1942
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Died30 September 2014(2014-09-30) (aged 72)
Resting placeBaba Mazar,Zadibal,Srinagar
Political partyJammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party
Other political
affiliations
ChildrenImran Raza Ansari, Irfan Raza Ansari, and a daughter
Residence(s)Darul Jawad,Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
Alma materSultanul Madaris, Lucknow, India
Hawza Elmia Najaf, Najaf, Iraq
OccupationCabinet minister and MLA

Iftikhar Hussain Ansari (26 April 1942 – 30 September 2014), widely known among his followers as Moulvi Sahib, was a Kashmiri Shia cleric, politician, businessman and a proponent of the Grand Ashura Procession In Kashmir.

He was one of the leading shia clerics in Kashmir and had close relations with multiple other important scholars such as Sayyid Jawad Shahristani, Mohammad Alavi Gorgani and Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani. He studied at Sultanul Madaris Lucknow, as well as Hawza Najaf. He succeeded his father Muhammad Jawad Ansari as president of the All Jammu and Kashmir Shia Association in Jammu & Kashmir in 1962, a position which he held for life. He was four-time member of Jammu and Kashmir's Legislative Assembly for the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party from Pattan Assembly segment; he was earlier a member of the National Conference and Congress.

In 1978, He along with Abdul Ghani Lone founded the Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference of which his son and brother are now a part.