The Department of Urdu has played a pivotal role in establishing the scholarly tradition m this institution. Besides History, it is one of the two oldest departments in Jamia. It has had the honour of being headed at its beginning by Dr. Syed Abid Husain, one of the most reputed Indian scholars and intellectuals.  The patronage of scholars and linguists like Prof M. Mujeeb  and Prof. Masud Husain Khan reinforced the literary and scholarly tradition harboured by Ibis department.

The members of the department have specialized in various classical and modern disciplines.    The  literary  and  academic  activities  and  seminars  organized by  this department from time to time helped in promoting contemporary trends in literature. These services were acclaimed throughout the Urdu World.

A correspondence course to familiarize non-Urdu knowing adult learners with Urdu is also being run by the Department.  It imparts knowledge of Urdu through both Hindi and English.  The response of learners from various parts of the country as well as abroad is overwhelming.  It is worth mentioning that Urdu and Hindi are taught to all undergraduate students as a compulsory subject in this University.

Jamia has a good number of writers in the spheres of creative writing and literary scholarship.  Members of this department have produced books which were accepted as an addition to the existing knowledge in some spheres.

The literary and academic organ of the University is Jamia Magazine, a representative of the distinguished tradition of literary journalism in Urdu since 1923. Eminent scholars like Dr. Zakir Husain, Prof. Mujeeb and Dr. Syed Abid Husain have been its editors in the past. This journal has not only maintained its reputation, but has widened its scope in recent years.  Some remarkable special issues ie. on Sir Syed, Mahatma Gnadhi, Maulana Azad, Ghalib, Firaq Gorakhpuri etc. were published during the last few years.