The Nizam-e-Islam Party (), is a religious-

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. The party was founded in the city of

Kishoreganj Kishoreganj is a city and the headquarters of Kishoreganj District in Dhaka Division, Bangladesh. The city is divided two sides by the Narasundha River. Demographics According to the 2011 Bangladesh census In 2011, the Bangladesh Bureau o ...

in 1952, by the Islamic scholars of erstwhile

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

as an offshoot of the

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (, abbreviated as JUI, translated as Assembly of Islamic Clergy) is a Deobandi Sunni Muslim organization that was founded on 26 October 1945 by Shabbir Ahmad Usmani as a pro-Pakistan offshoot of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH ...

. It was one of the four political parties belonging to the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political and/ ...

alliance which defeated the Muslim League in the 1954 elections.

History

Establishment

The

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind or Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind ( ) is one of the leading organizations of Islamic scholars belonging to the Deobandi school of thought in India. It was founded in November 1919 by a group of Muslim scholars including Abdul Bari Fi ...

, founded in 1919, was a political body of

Islamic scholars In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

predominantly belonging to the

Deobandi The Deobandi movement or Deobandism is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam that adheres to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. It was formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the nam ...

movement that opposed the partition of India. In 1945, a breakaway faction was formed under the leadership of

Shabbir Ahmad Usmani Shabbir Ahmad Usmani (11 October 188713 December 1949) was an Islamic scholar and an activist of the Pakistan Movement, who served as the of Pakistan in 1949. He was the first to demand that Pakistan become an Islamic state. He was a religio ...

, who was one of the founders of the original party. The new faction, known as the ''All-India Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam'', supported the

creation of Pakistan The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation th ...

and sided with the pro-partition

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...

party. The organisation took the name

after the partition in 1947, and had representatives in both the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

wings of the new

Dominion of Pakistan The Dominion of Pakistan, officially Pakistan, was an independent federal dominion in the British Commonwealth of Nations, which existed from 14 August 1947 to Pakistan Day, 23 March 1956. It was created by the passing of the Indian Independence ...

. As a result of broken promises relating to Islamic governance, the Jamiat broke its ties with the

Pakistan Muslim League The Pakistan Muslim League (; known as PML), is the name of several different Pakistani political parties that have dominated the centre-right platform in the country. The ''Muslim League'' (the original successor of the All-India Muslim ...

in 1952. Its political wing, the ''Nizam-e-Islam Party'', was subsequently formed at a three-day conference ending on 20 March in Haybatnagar,

Athar Ali Bengali Athar Ali (; 1891 – 6 October 1976) was a Bangladeshi Islamic activist, author, teacher and politician. He participated in the Indian independence movement, and was former president of the Nizam-e-Islam Party. Ali was also a ''khalifah'' of As ...

was appointed as the party's inaugural president, with Syed Muslehuddin as secretary-general and Ashraf Ali Dharmanduli as assistant secretary.

Dominion of Pakistan (1947–1956)

The party swiftly gained prominence in Muslim-majority Bengal, in comparison to the modernist-capitalist Muslim League, because its members were composed of popular

. In the lead-up to the 1954 East Bengal Legislative Assembly election, the party eventually joined the

coalition which challenged the Muslim League. In the introduction of the United Front's 21 Point Programme manifesto was the statement "No law shall be enacted against the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

and ''

sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...

''". The coalition was successful, with the Nizam-e-Islam Party winning 19 of the United Front's 223 seats, in comparison to the Muslim League which won only 9 seats. By virtue of also attaining seats in the ministry, the party gained important roles in policy-making. Farid Ahmad became East Bengal's Minister of Labour, Abdul Wahab Khan became the Speaker of the Assembly, and the ministries of Law, Land and Education were also under the Nizam-e-Islam party. The former

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...

Chaudhry Muhammad Ali Chaudhri Muhammad Ali (15 July 1905 – 2 December 1982) was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the fourth prime minister of Pakistan from 1955 until his resignation in 1956. His government transitioned Pakistan from a British ...

later joined the party, and was appointed its president.

Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1956–1971)

The Nizam-e-Islam Party protested against the central government's discriminatory treatment of

Bengalis Bengalis ( ), also rendered as endonym and exonym, endonym Bangalee, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of South Asia. The current population is divi ...

. It played a role in the struggle for East Pakistan's demands. For example, they demanded that Pakistan's capital be changed from

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

and that the headquarters of the

Pakistan Navy The Pakistan Navy (PN) (; ''romanized'': Pākistān Bahrí'a; ) is the naval warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The Chief of the Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Com ...

to be in

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

, rather than

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

. In 1966, the Nizam-e-Islam party asked its ministers to resign from the government. The party split from the

in the following year. In 1969, a central election was held within the party, with

Muhammad Shafi Muhammad Shafi (24 January 1897 – 6 October 1976), often referred to as Mufti Muhammad Shafi, was a Pakistani Sunni Islamic scholar of the Deobandi school, a Hanafi jurist and mufti, he was also an authority on shari'ah, hadith, Qur'anic ...

as chief advisor,

Zafar Ahmad Usmani Zafar Ahmad Usmani (also known as Zafar Ahmad Thanwi) () (4 October 1892 – 1974), was a 20th Century Sunni Muslim Jurist who became an influential figure of the Hanafi school of Sunni jurisprudence's Deobandi Movement. He also was a prom ...

as president, Athar Ali as executive president, Abdul Wahab Khan and Mustafa al-Madani as vice-presidents, Ehtisham ul Haq Thanvi as ''

qaid Qaid ( ', "commander"; pl. ', or '), also spelled kaid or caïd, is a word meaning "commander" or "leader." It was a title in the Normans, Norman kingdom of Sicily, applied to palatine officials and members of the ''curia'', usually to thos ...

'' (chief leader) and

Siddique Ahmad Siddique Ahmad (1903 – 19 May 1987) was a 20th-century Bangladeshi Islamic scholar and politician, widely known as Khatib-e-Azam for his oratory skills. He was elected to the Provincial Assembly of East Pakistan in 1954 and later held key pos ...

as secretary-general. In the lead-up to the 1970 East Pakistan Provincial Assembly election, the Party entered into an agreement with the

Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami is an Islamist fundamentalist movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamist author and theorist Syed Abul Ala Maududi, who was inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood. It is considered one of the most influential Isla ...

that the Jamaat will not nominate a candidate in a constituency where the Nizam-e-Islam nominates their candidate, and that the Nizam-e-Islam will not nominate a candidate where the Jamaat has nominated a candidate. Regardless, the

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

under the leadership of

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

won all the seats in East Pakistan except twelve (one belonging to Nizam-e-Islam), rightfully making him the next Prime Minister of Pakistan. A lengthy delay in the transfer of power to the Awami League in Bengal by the central government in West Pakistan, eventually led to the outbreak of the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

. The party was against Bangladesh being an independent country. Its leaders like Farid Ahmad supported the Pakistan army and their paramilitary forces. The party was in the Peace Committees of East Pakistan, and provided intelligence to Pakistan Army. Ahmad was killed after the war by members of the Mujib Bahini.

Bangladesh period (1971–present)

The government of Bangladesh banned all religion-based parties, including Nizam-e-Islam, after its independence. In 1978, this ban was lifted under president

Ziaur Rahman Ziaur Rahman (19 January 193630 May 1981) was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the sixth president of Bangladesh from 1977 until Assassination of Ziaur Rahman, his assassination in 1981. One of the leading figures of t ...

. The Nizam-e-Islam Party was reorganised in 1981, with

as its new president, Manzurul Ahsan as secretary, Ashraf Ali as assistant secretary and Sarwar Kamal Azizi as publicity and public welfare secretary. A central election was held three years later, with Abdul Malek Halim becoming president, Siddique Ahmad as adviser, Ataur Rahman and Sarwar Kamal Azizi as vice presidents, Ashraf Ali as general secretary and Nurul Haque Arman as organising secretary. It became part of the Islami Okiya Jote alliance composed of six parties.

References