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.^[1] He was taken to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in an injured condition.^[2]

Shaykh, Allamah Ehsan Elahi Zaheer
احسان الٰہی ظہیر
1st Ameer of Jamiat Ahle Hadith
Shaheed e Islam
In office March 1986 – 30 March 1987
Preceded by	post established
Succeeded by	Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer (as Ameer of JAHP) Sajid Mir (as Ameer of MJAH)
Personal details
Born	31 May 1945 Sialkot, Punjab, British India
Died	30 March 1987(1987-03-30) (aged 41) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Political party	Jamiat Ahle Hadith
Children	Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer Hisham Elahi Zaheer Motasim Elahi Zaheer
Parent	Haji Zahoor Elahi (father)
Education	University of Madinah

Early life and education

Zaheer was born in 1945 in Sialkot into a deeply religious trading Punjabi family of the Sethi clan and was formally educated in Ahl-e-Hadith establishments 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.^[3]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[4]

Assassination

On 23 March 1987, while Zaheer was giving a speech in Lahore, a bomb which had been planted in the flowers on the stage exploded, severely injuring him. 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. However, the medics could not save him from his severe wounds. His funeral prayer was attended by thousands, including President of Pakistan Zia-ul Haq, ISI chief Akhtar Abdur Rahman, and the Pakistani foreign minister Sahabzada Yaqub Khan.^[2]

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.