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Abdul Aziz Ghazi
Pakistani religious cleric (born 1960) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Abdul Aziz Ghazi[a] (born 10 January 1960) is a Pakistani Islamic scholar and Islamist dissident belonging to the Deobandi movement within Sunni Islam, who serves as both the Imam and Khatib of Lal Masjid in Islamabad,[1] which was the site of a siege in 2007 with the Pakistani army.[2]
Aziz also serves as the Chancellor & Chief Executive of Jamia Faridia and Jamia Hafsa, two influential Deobandi Islamic seminaries in Islamabad.[3]
He is the son of Muhammad Abdullah Ghazi, and elder brother of Abdul Rashid Ghazi.[4]
Aziz was arrested during Operation Sunrise but was later released by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2009 and acquitted in 2013.[5][6]
He is known to closely follows the supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, and typically resists being photographed or interviewed.[7]
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Early life and education
He is an ethnic Baloch, a part of Baloch diaspora who migrated to Punjab from Baluchistan.[8] He is from the Sadwani clan of the Mazari tribe, in the town of Rojhan in Rajanpur, the border district of Punjab province of Pakistan.[9] He first came to Islamabad as a six-year-old boy from his home town in Rajanpur, when his father was appointed as Imam and Khatib of Central Mosque Islamabad (Lal Masjid) in 1966.[10]
He studied for few years at Islamabad College, a public school from where he completed his Intermediate and then joined Jamia Farooqia, where he was a student of Saleemullah Khan.[9]
Aziz later graduated with a Dars-i Nizami degree from Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia, a Madrasa in Karachi.[11]
After Graduation, Aziz served as Imam of Masjid Mujaddadiyyah in F-8, Islamabad.[12]
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Father's assassination
In October 1998, Aziz's father was assassinated in the courtyard of Lal Masjid as he was returning from teaching a class at Jamia Faridia.[13] The assassin afterwards, fired at Aziz, who barely escaped death.[14][15]
The assassin escaped with the help of an accomplice waiting outside in a car. Aziz's father died of his injuries on the way to the hospital.[16]
Lal Masjid and seminaries
Following his father's assassination, Aziz succeeded him as Imam of Lal Masjid and as the Chancellor of both Jamia Faridia and Jamia Hafsa.[10]
Although most administrative duties of the seminaries were largely overseen by his younger brother, Abdul Rashid.[17] as Aziz was more interested in political activities, and would constantly issue fatwas on various public affairs.[7]
2004 Fatwa
In 2004, Aziz who was then serving as BPS 9 government employee issued a "fatwa" (religious decree) against the army officers who were fighting against the Taliban during the Battle of Wanna in the tribal areas close to the Afghan border. In the fatwa he declared that none of the army officers who were killed in the fighting in tribal area were martyrs and religious sanctions were not available for their funeral.[18]
The fatwa was supported by several religious scholars, among them Aziz's close allies, Sami-ul-Haq and Nizamuddin Shamzai.[19]
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2007 showdown
In 2007, Aziz launched an anti-vice and Shari'a campaign occupying a nearby library and embarking on vigilante raids through the city to stop what he called "un-Islamic activities," such as film vendors, barber shops and a Chinese-run massage parlor that he accused of being a brothel.[20]
He also launched a warned the government of attacks in the case of a violent police operation launched against him. "If the government fails to eradicate all these moral evils from the society within the specified period of one month they (students) would themselves take actions against all the people involved in such activities," said Abdul Aziz while addressing Friday Prayer congregation.[21]
On 3 July 2007, the standoff with the government ended in bloody gun battles in which some publications claim that more than 1,000 students were killed and scores wounded.[22] The official death toll is much lower, at fewer than 300.[23]
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Arrest
On 4 July 2007 at 8:05 a.m., Aziz was arrested while leaving the complex disguised in a burqa.[24] Aziz claims the reason for his cross-dressing escape was that he was called by a senior official of an intelligence agency with whom he has been in touch for a long time and since this man could not enter into the mosque to meet him, he asked Aziz to come down to Aabpara police station, situated on a walking distance from the mosque and asked him to wear a burqa to avoid identification.[25]
Aziz admitted that he had done this many times before when he was declared wanted by the government.[26]
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Release
Aziz was released on 16 April 2009 by the Supreme Court of Pakistan as he awaited trial on alleged charges of murder, incitement, and kidnapping. He was greeted by throngs of supporters.[5]
Since 2001, 27 different cases have been filed unsuccessfully against him.[27][6]
Subsequent activities
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Since his release he has resumed his post at Lal Masjid and has also continued to serve as Chancellor of Jamia Faridia and Jamia Hafsa.[28][3]
In 2010, Aziz participated in a protest organized by tribesmen from North Waziristan, opposing U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal regions. The demonstration, held at D-Chowk, included prominent figures such as General Hamid Gul and Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, who collectively demanded an end to the drone campaign.[29]
In 2014, During peace talks between Taliban and Pakistani government, The Taliban nominated a five person team as part of their peace talks committee consisting of Aziz alongside PTI chief Imran Khan, Samiul Haq and Mufti Kifayatullah.[30][31][32] Aziz later withdrew from the committee and refused to attend future meetings with negotiators.[33][34]
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Aziz kept the Lal Masjid open and refused to comply with lockdown orders, stating, “Lockdowns are not the answer to these problems. We should have faith in God at this time and place their hope in Him. If death is written for you, then it will come”.[35][36]
In 2024, Aziz participated in several pro-Palestinian rallies amid the Gaza war, including a weeks long sit-in at Islamabad's D-Chowk organized by Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mushtaq Ahmad.[37][38]
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Books
See also
Notes
- Urdu: عبد العزيزغازی
References
External links
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