Ehsan Elahi Zaheer

Islamic scholar
Ehsan Elahi Zaheer
Born May 31, 1945
Sialkot, Pakistan
Died

March 30, 1987 (aged 41)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Buried-madinah al munawwarah, baqi al gharqad
Other names Ihsan Ilahi Zahir; Ehsaan.
Ethnicity Punjabi
Era Modern era
Region Pakistani scholar
Creed Ahle Hadith
Main interest(s) Salafism

Ehsan Elahi Zaheer (Urdu: احسان الہی ظہیر‎) (May 31, 1945 – March 30, 1987) was a Pakistani Islamic theologian and leader of the Ahl al-Hadith movement.[1][2] He was born in Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan and died from an assassin's bomb blast on 1987.

Biography

Birth

Ehsan Elahi Zaheer was born on Thursday, May 31, 1945, in the city of Sialkot in Pakistan to a prominent and wealthy Punjabi industrialist family with a history of involvement with the Ahl al-Hadith movement. He memorized the Qur'an at the age of 9 years.

Education

He studied at Jamia Islamiyyah Gujranwala and at Jamia Salafiyyah in Faisalabad before leaving to study at the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia, where he studied under the Salafi scholars Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani and Abd-al-Aziz ibn Abd-Allah ibn Baaz.

During his final year of study at Medina Bin Baz asked him to deliver lectures, a very rare opportunity amongst attending students. Zaheer during his lifetime held various prominent posts within his country, and at one time was the adviser to the then Pakistani President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, on Islamic affairs.

Death

Ehsan Elahi Zaheer was reported to have fallen out of favour with the Government of General Zia ul Haq for his outspoken opposition to the Sharia Bill and the involvement of the Government agencies in the enforcement of Shariat Law in Pakistan. He had also criticized the politically influenced view of Islam propagated by Jamaat-e-Islami. Thus, it seems, he had fallen foul with virtually every force in Pakistan.

While giving a speech on the biography of Muhammad, a bomb which had been planted on the stage exploded eventually killing Zaheer[3] along with 18 attendees; 114 were seriously injured.[4] Of the death toll, nine were also scholars and teachers within the Salafi and Ahle Hadith movements.[5] Zaheer initially survived the blast and after initial treatment at the central hospital of Lahore, he was transferred for further medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.

He died on 30 March 1987 after spending 22 hours in a Riyadh hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Works

References

  1. ↑ Ravinder Kaur, Religion, Violence and Political Mobilisation in South Asia, p 153. ISBN 0761934308
  2. ↑ Roy, Olivier, The Failure of Political Islam, by Olivier Roy, translated by Carol Volk, Harvard University Press, 1994, p.118-9
  3. ↑ Derrick M. Nault, Development in Asia: Interdisciplinary, Post-neoliberal, and Transnational Perspectives, p 184. ISBN 1599424886
  4. ↑ Muhammad as-Saayim, Martyrs of the Islamic Da'wah During the 20th Century, Cairo: Daar-ul-Fadeelah, 1992, pg. 166
  5. ↑ 'Abdul-Qaadir 'Abdul-Kareem, "Aggressive Attempts Made Against the Salafi Movement in Pakistan," Majallat ud-Da'wah (magazine), no. 1115, Monday November 9, 1987, pg.31
  6. ↑ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Al-Qadiyania-Ehsan-ilahi-zaheer/dp/B007OVXODI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409218638&sr=8-1&keywords=Ehsan+ilahi+zaheer

External links