He is known for co-discovering the Ali-Mikhail-Haq copula,[3] which is a topic of active research, both in theory[4][5][6][7][8] and application.
[9][10][11][12] Ali played a key role in establishing the Journal of Statistical Research,[13] of which the first issue appeared in 1970.
The December 2008 issue of the Journal of Statistical Research was dedicated in honor of Ali.
In 2008, Ali received the Qazi Motahar Husain Gold Medal Award in recognition of his contributions to statistics.
Two of his most highly rated papers are in geometry, and appeared in the Pacific Journal of Mathematics.