Umer Chapra


Muhammad Umer Chapra is a Pakistani-Saudi economist. he serves as Advisor at the Islamic Research and Training Institute of the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Prior to this position, he worked at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, 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. 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.
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. 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.
In 1995, he was awarded an Institute of Overseas Pakistanis medal by the President of Pakistan, for his contributions in economics. He is married to Khairunnisa Jamal Mundia and they have four children.

Awards

Chapra has received a number of awards for his academic contributions, including:
  1. The Islamic Development Bank Award for Islamic Economics.
  2. The prestigious King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies.
  3. The IOP gold medal by the President of Pakistan for services to Islam and Islamic Economics at the First IOP Convention in Islamabad.
  4. The COMCEC 30th Anniversary Academic Award by the President of Turkey "for his outstanding academic studies in Islamic Economics and Finance" in Istanbul.
  5. Ranked by the ISLAMICA 500 among the Top 50 Global Leaders who make the Islamic Economy in 2015.