Bangladesh has lost one of her most illustrious sons. Mofakhkhar Hussain Khan was an academic and researcher in the field of library and information sciences. His primary work was cataloguing the translations of the Holy Qur'an in different languages from Europe to Asia, to Africa, and beyond. His work has been published in research articles and books, many of which were self-published. His PhD thesis turned book, which was published by Bangla Academy, The Bengali Book, won the best book award in 2002. He was also recognized by the Bangla Academy in 2018 where he was awarded the Honorarium Crest from the Ahmed Smriti Patagar.
Professor Mofakhkhar Hussain Khan was born in Soiladi, Kaliganj in Gazipur in 1941. He obtained his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Dhaka in Library Science with a first class securing the first position. He joined the then East Pakistan Central Public Library as a Library Assistant. In 1968 he obtained the East-West Centre scholarship to do a Master of Library Science (MLS) from the University of Honolulu. On his return he was appointed the Director at Central Board for Development of Bengali (currently Bangla Academy) Dhaka.
In 1973 he traveled to London for a PhD on a British Council Fellowship. He studied under the renowned librarian Professor JD Pearson at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. After completing his PhD in 1976 he joined Pahlavi University (now Siraj University) in Iran at the Department of Library and Information Science. After the start of the Islamic Revolution in Iran he moved to Bayero University Kano in Nigeria as a Senior Lecturer.
In 1986, MH Khan was appointed Professor and Librarian of University of Dhaka. Prior to his appointment, University of Dhaka did not have a fully appointed librarian for 12 years. As the librarian of Dhaka University, he had the privilege of overseeing all the libraries in Bangladesh. He was instrumental in introducing the first training program on AACR-2 for the library professionals of Bangladesh.
Unfortunately, due to university politics and a change of vice chancellor, Professor Khan resigned from this post in 1988. With a brief stint back in Nigeria he was head hunted to join King Abdulaziz University in the Deanship of Library Affairs in 1990. He formally retired in 2005 to return to Bangladesh and his native village in Gazipur. He built a mosque and established an Islamic studies school which did spectacularly well in board examinations.
Professor Khan has published more than a hundred research articles at the national and international levels. He has also authored many books, some well-known publications being Ekushe Granthopongi Sonkolon (1971), A Dictionary of Librarianship (1973), Dewey for Islam and Bangladesh (1st ed. 1987, 2nd 1988 and 3rd 1999). History of Printing the Holy Qur;an (1988), Modernization of Library and its Education (1988), The Eastern Librarian and Librarianship of Bangladesh (1988), Bibliographic Control of Qur'anic Literature (1993), Pobitra Quran Paker Itihas o Bonganubader Sotoborsho (1997), English translation of the Holy Qur'an: a bio-bibliographic study (1997), The Bengal Book: History of Printing and Bookmarking 1667-1866 (1999-2001).
Professor Mofakhkhar Hussain Khan had two passions in life, his late wife Roushan Ara Khan and research. He passed away peacefully in his Baridhara home in Dhaka on June 10, 2023. He is survived by two children and five grandchildren.
Dr Amena LT Khan is Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, University of Texas at Dallas.