Asghar
Ali Engineer is a Indian Muslim scholar and engineer and a leader of the Progressive
Dawoodi Bhohra movement, which is engaged in a struggle to bring about social
reform in the Bhohra community. Born into a Bhohra priestly family, Asghar Ali
Engineer retired after 20 years as an engineer to focus on the Bohra reform movement,
working to end communal and ethnic violence in India and Southeast Asia. He has
written more than 40 books and many articles promoting communal understanding
and harmony. He believes that faith is essential to finding meaning in life, but
one should show respect to all religions. He advocates that in his own religion
of Islam, those who promote violence are misusing and politicizing Islam. In
2004 he received the Right Livelihood Award (often referred to as the Alternative
Nobel Prize) "...for promoting over many years in South Asia the values of
religious and communal co-existence, tolerance and mutual understanding."
