Muhammad Umer Chapra (born 1 February 1933) is a Pakistani-Saudi economist.[3] As of November 1999,[update] he serves as Advisor at the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Prior to this position, he worked at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), Riyadh, for nearly 35 years, as Economic Advisor and then Senior Economic Advisor.
Personal life
Chapra was born in Bombay, British India on 1 February 1933 to Abdul Karim Chapra, and grew up in Karachi, Pakistan.[citation needed] He completed undergraduate studies from the University of Sindh in 1950, followed by undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in commerce at the University of Karachi in 1954 and 1956 respectively. He then moved to the United States, where he pursued a PhD in economics and sociology from the University of Minnesota in 1961, and worked as an academic for six years.[4][5]
In 1965, at a time when there was high demand for skilled Pakistani migrants, he moved to Saudi Arabia after being offered an economic advisory position at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. He worked under Minister for Finance Sheikh Mohammed Abalkhai during the reign of King Faisal, and played an instrumental role in building Saudi Arabia's banking system, as well as formulating the government's economic and monetary policies over the next several decades.[1] In 1990, he was awarded the King Faisal International Prize in the field of Islamic studies and economics. He was also granted Saudi citizenship in recognition of his services to the country.[1][2]
In 1995, he was awarded an Institute of Overseas Pakistanis medal by the President of Pakistan, for his contributions in economics.[4] He is married to Khairunnisa Jamal Mundia and they have four children.[4][5]
Awards
Chapra has received a number of awards for his academic contributions, including:
The prestigious King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies (1989).[3]
The IOP (Institute of Overseas Pakistanis) gold medal by the President of Pakistan for services to Islam and Islamic Economics at the First IOP Convention in Islamabad (1995).[citation needed]
The COMCEC 30th Anniversary Academic Award by the President of Turkey "for his outstanding academic studies in Islamic Economics and Finance" in Istanbul (2014).[citation needed]
Chapra has written extensively on the issues of Islamic economics and finance. In addition to a number of articles published in accredited journals, he has written 11 books, of which the following have been the most notable:
^ ab"Dr. Umar Chapra". Work Database for Islamic Banking and Finance. 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2019. Dr. M. Umer Chapra (born 1933), a Saudi citizen, is currently serving as Research Advisor at the Islamic Research & Training Institute (IRTI) of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).
^ abc"Dr. Muhammad Umer Chapra". King Faisal International Prize. Retrieved 27 April 2015. He worked at the Institute of Development Economics and the Islamic Research Institute in Pakistan, then as a research assistant at Minnesota, and associate professor of economics at Wisconsin and Kentucky Universities, before becoming Consultant to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Organization for 34 years during which he was granted Saudi citizenship.
