Tahir Mahmood received the 7th Shah Waliullah Award from the Institute of Objective Studies (IOS) at the Constitution Club on Saturday.

Mahmood is an internationally renowned jurist on Islamic and Constitutional law. He is a member of the Law Commission of India and has previously served as the Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities and Dean, Faculty of Law, Delhi University.

The IOS concerns itself with research on “marginalised communities in general and Muslims in particular”. In its citation, the IOS said Dr Mahmood “will be remembered by generations of Indians for his role as chairman of the NCM, where he converted a toothless organisation into a powerful advocate of minority rights”.

Mahmood said “he was overcome by emotion on receiving the award”. Quoting examples from Hindu mythology and the Quran, he emphasised how Islamic law was steeped in gender equality.

“I have been studying Islamic law for 50 years now. It was completely distorted during the British colonial period. The majority of the community is ignorant of this and I have been waging a battle to clear the cobwebs around Islamic law,” he said.

Saying that “earlier law was controlled by religion, and now religion is controlled by law”, he set up the Indian Association of Scholars of Religion and Law (ASRAL-India) to create a platform for engagement between religion and law. He also donated the Rs 1 lakh he received as part of the prize to ASRAL-India.

Goolam E Vahnavati, Attorney General of India, was present on the occasion. He said, “At the UN, I said India is a great country. Its response to the Gujarat riots, especially through the media and civil society, showed that we are united as Indians.”