Ehsan Elahi Zaheer

Ehsan Elahi Zaheer (Urdu: احسان الہی ظہیر) (31 May 1945 – 30 March 1987) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar. He was the founder of Jamiat Ahle Hadith. He died from an assassin's bomb blast in 1987. He was taken to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in injured condition. He died there and was buried in Jannat ul-Baqi.

Ehsan Elahi Zaheer
1st Ameer of Jamiat Ahle Hadith
In office
March 1986 – 30 March 1987
Preceded bypost established
Succeeded byIbtisam Elahi Zaheer (as Ameer of JAHP)
Sajid Mir (as Ameer of MJAH)
Personal details
Born31 May 1945
Sialkot, Punjab, British India
Died30 March 1987(1987-03-30) (aged 41)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Political partyJamiat Ahle Hadith
ChildrenIbtisam Elahi Zaheer
Hisham Elahi Zaheer
Motasim Elahi Zaheer
ParentHaji Zahoor Elahi (father)
EducationUniversity of Madinah

Early life and education

Zaheer was born in 1945 in Sialkot into a deeply religious trading Punjabi Muslim family of the Sethi clan and was formally educated in Ahl-e-Hadith seminaries in Gujranwala and Faisalabad before earning Masters in Arabic, Islamic studies, Urdu and Persian at the University of the Punjab and further continuing his studies in Islamic law at the University of Madinah under many scholars.[1]

Political career

Tehreek-e-Istiqlal

In 1972, Ehsan Elahi Zaheer joined the political party Tehreek-e-Istiqlal. After Ehsan Elahi joined the party, it became the second most popular party of Pakistan. Ehsan left the party in 1978.

Jamiat Ahle Hadith

In March 1986, Zaheer founded his political party Jamiat Ahle Hadith. Zaheer used to criticize Zia-ul-Haq. After Zaheer was assassinated, the party was led by his son Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer.[2]

Assassination

While Zaheer was giving a speech, a bomb which had been planted in the flowers on the stage exploded, severely injuring him. He later died due to his injuries. Zaheer's family accused Iran-backed Shia militants of killing him.[3]

Upon the request of Saudi Grand Mufti Abd al-Aziz Ibn Baz, Zaheer was transferred to Saudi Arabia for treatment at The National Guard Hospital. Medics could not save him from his severe wounds. His funeral prayer was led by Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz in Medina, Saudi Arabia, attended by millions including the country's main Islamic scholars, and he was buried in Al-Baqi cemetery.[4]

Personal life

Zaheer's father-in-law Hafiz Muhammad Gondalvi (1897-1985) was also a famed Ahl-e-Hadith scholar.[5]

Zaheer had three sons, themselves involved in Islamic scholarship and activism: Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer, Hisham Elahi Zaheer and Motasim Elahi Zaheer.[6]

Books

He mainly wrote in Arabic but his works have been translated into Urdu and many other languages:[7]

Urdu
  • Mirzāʼiyyat aur Islām, Idārat Turjumān al-Sunnah, 1972, 240 p.

Arabic
  • al-Qadiyaniyat : dirasat wa-tahlil, Idārat Turjumān al-Sunnah, 1976, 320 p.[8][9]
  • al-Shīʻah wa-al-Sunnah, Idārat Turjumān al-Sunnah, 1977, 216 p.
  • al-Bābīyah : ʻarḍ wa-naqd, Idārat Tarjumān al-Sunnah, 1981, 288 p.
  • al-Bahāʼīyah : naqd wa-taḥlīl, Idārat Tarjumān al-Sunnah, 1981, 375 p.[10]
  • Aš-Šhīʻa wa-ahl al-bait, Idārat Tarjumān al-Sunnah, 1982, 316 p.
  • Aš-Šhīʻa wa'l-Qurʼān, Idārat Tarjumān al-Sunnah, 1983, 352 p.
  • al-Barīlawīya : ʻaqāʼid wa-taʼrīḫ, Idārat Tarjumān al-Sunnah, 1983, 253 p.
  • Bayna al-Shīʻah wa-ahl al-Sunnah, Idārat Tarjamān al-Sunnah, 1985, 218 p.
  • Ismāīlīyah : tārīkh wa-aqāid, Idārah Tarjumān al-Sunnah, 1986, 757 p.[11]

English translations
  • Ibn Taymiyyah's Kitab-al-wasilah. Foreword and translation under the guidance of Ehsan Elahi Zaheer.
  • Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's Kitab at-Tawheed. Foreword and translation under the guidance of Ehsan Elahi Zaheer.

References
  1. Mariam Abou Zahab, Pakistan: A Kaleidoscope of Islam, Oxford University Press, 2020, note 19 of chapter 6.
  2. "Allama Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer profile". PakistanHerald.com website. Archived from the original on 22 November 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  3. Derrick M. Nault, Development in Asia: Interdisciplinary, Post-neoliberal, and Transnational Perspectives, p 184. ISBN 1599424886
  4. Imtiaz Alam, Religious revivalism in South Asia, South Asian Policy Analysis Network, 2006, p. 85
  5. Dorsey, James (2022). "Saudi Arabia: A South Asian Wrecking Ball". In Mandaville, Peter (ed.). Wahhabism and the World: Understanding Saudi Arabia's Global Influence on Islam. Oxford University Press. p. 195.
  6. Kalbe Ali (30 April 2014), "Another side of the story in the missing persons’ saga", Dawn. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  7. Ẓahīr, Iḥsān Ilāhī, profile on WorldCat
  8. Allama ehsan elahi zaheer. Qadiyania.
  9. نور, مكتبة. "Al Qadianiat (Study and Analysis) pdf". www.noor-book.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 2021-05-28.
  10. نور, مكتبة. "Baha'iyah (Study & Analysis) pdf". www.noor-book.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 2021-05-28.
  11. نور, مكتبة. "Ismailiyah (History & Doctrine) pdf". www.noor-book.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 2021-05-28.
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