Iftikhar Hussain Ansari (26 April 1942 – 30 September 2014), widely known among his followers as Moulvi Sahib, was a Kashmiri Shia cleric, politician, businessman and a proponent of the Grand Ashura Procession In Kashmir.
He was one of the leading shia clerics in Kashmir and had close relations with multiple other important scholars such as Sayyid Jawad Shahristani, Mohammad Alavi Gorgani and Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani.
[6] Returning to the Indian National Congress fold in the 1980s, Ansari's leadership qualities were recognized, and he was appointed as the leader of the Legislature party in the Jammu and Kashmir State Assembly from 1983 to 1987.
In 1996, he secured a victory in the state legislative assembly elections, once again on a Congress ticket, and subsequently assumed a ministerial role in the National Conference (NC) government, headed by Farooq Abdullah.
[9] Ansari died at his residence in Dar ul Jawad, Qamarwari, Srinagar on the morning of 30 September 2014 after a prolonged liver illness.