Mawlānā Mawlānā (; from Arabic ( ar, مولانا), also spelled as maulana or molana (Urdu, from Arabic mawlānā), is a title, mostly in Central Asia and in the Indian subcontinent, preceding the name of respected Muslim religious leaders, in parti ...

Muhammad Abdullah Ghazi ( ur, – 17 October 1998) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar who served as Chairman of

Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee ( ur, ) of Pakistan is the department which announces the sighting of the new moon. Its head is now Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad assisted by 150 observatories of the Pakistan Meteorological Department. Establishment ...

and as the first

Imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, se ...

of Lal Masjid, and founded Faridia University and

Jamia Hafsa Jamia Hafsa (جامعة حفصة) is a madrassa adjacent to the Lal Masjid Mosque Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. The mosque and its seminaries are overseen by cleric Abdul Aziz Ghazi. The seminary, and the adjoining Lal Mosque, was ow ...

. He Graduated from

Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia ( ur, , ''Jāmi‘ah ‘Ulūm-i Islāmīyah'' / , ''Jāmi‘atul-‘Ulūmul-Islāmīyah'') is an Islamic University in Banoori Town, Karachi, Pakistan. The university continues the tradition of the Darul Uloom system ...

and served as the first

and

Khatib In Islam, a khatib, khateeb or hatib ( ar, خطيب ''khaṭīb'') is a person who delivers the sermon (''khuṭbah'') (literally "narration"), during the Friday prayer and Eid prayers. The ''khateeb'' is usually the prayer leader (''imam''), ...

of Lal Masjid, the first mosque to be established in the new capital. In 1971, he founded

Jamia Faridia The Al Faridia University ( ur, , Jamiya Faridia) is an Deobandi Islamic university situated near the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan. The university was established in 1971 by Muhammad Abdullah Ghazi, Maulana Abdullah Ghazi, who remained ...

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capita ...

, the first Islamic seminary to be established in

. He taught

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

at the madrasah, and was well-known by the title " Shaykh

al-Hadith ''Al-Hadith'' (; ''The Modern'') was a literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism ...

". He also served as the Chairman of

, and led the organization till assassination in 1998.

Early life

Muhammad Abdullah Ghazi was born on 1 June 1935 in a village of

Basti-Abdullah Basti-Abdullah Shaheed ( ur, , Basti-Abdullah ) is a town situated a short distance from Rojhan in Rajanpur District, the border district of Punjab province in Pakistan. The town is named after Maulana Muhammad Abdullah and is also noted for be ...

, district

Rajanpur Rajanpur ( ur, ), is a city and the headquarters of Rajanpur District in the far southwestern part of Punjab, Pakistan. The district lies entirely west of the Indus River. it is a narrow, to wide strip of land sandwiched between the Indus Riv ...

into the family of Ghazi Muhammad descending from the Sadwani (Sodvani) clan of the Mazari tribe of

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

. His father was socially active, which got him in trouble many times and he was arrested by the British and sentenced to 8 years in Jail. In Jail, he became religious and motivated Abdullah to join a local madrassa. At the age of seven, Ghazi enrolled into Madrasa Khudam-ul-Qur'an of

Rahim Yar Khan Rahim Yar Khan () is a city in Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the 9th largest city of Pakistan by population. It is the capital of the Rahim Yar Khan District and Rahim Yar Khan Tehsil. The administration of the city is subdivided into ni ...

, to complete the

Hifz Hafiz (; ar, حافظ, ḥāfiẓ, pl. ''ḥuffāẓ'' , f. ''ḥāfiẓa'' ), literally meaning "memorizer", depending on the context, is a term used by Muslims for someone who has completely memorized the Quran. Hafiza is the female equiva ...

(memorization of the Quran). After his primary education, Ghazi went to study at

Jamia Qasim Ul Uloom Jamia Qasim Ul Uloom Multan ( ur, , Jamiyah Qasim Uloom) is an Deobandi religious educational centre in Multan, Pakistan. The seminary was established in 1946 by Mufti Mahmood. In October 1946, Hussain Ahmad Madani visited Multan for formal i ...

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the olde ...

for further education, where he studied for 5 years and was a student of

Mufti Mahmud Mufti Mehmood ( ur, ; 1919–1980) was a Pakistani politician and Islamic scholar who was one of the founding members of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI). He then went to Karachi, and joined

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former ...

, from where he completed his

Dars-i Nizami Dars-i Nizami is a study curriculum or system used in many Islamic institutions (madrassas) and Dar Ul Ulooms, which originated in the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century and can now also be found in parts of South Africa, Canada, the United St ...

in 1957, and was among the top students of

Muhammad Yousuf Banuri Muhammad Yousuf Banuri (7 May 1908 – 17 October 1977) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, founder of Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia and former President and Vice President of Wifaq ul Madaris Al-Arabia, Pakistan from 30 May 1973 to 17 October 1977. Ed ...

. After completing his

, he served as Imam of Jamia Masjid Rashidiya,

Malir Malir Town ( sd, ملير ٽائون, ur, ) lies in the northern part of the city that was named after the Malir River. History Administrative status 2000 The federal government under introduced local government reforms in the year ...

for few years. When the capital moved to

, and

Lal Masjid, Islamabad The Lal Masjid ( ur, ; translated: Red Mosque) is a mosque located in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It is near to Abpara Market, Islamabad. It was constructed in 1966 as one of the oldest mosques in the new capital. It was also the larg ...

was established, Ghazi became its first sermon preacher in 1965 upon the recommendation of his teacher

Lal Masjid

His Friday sermons attracted thousands to the mosque. Before

Faisal Mosque The Faisal Mosque ( ur, , faisal masjid) is the national mosque of Pakistan, located in capital Islamabad. It is the fifth-largest mosque in the world and the largest within South Asia, located on the foothills of Margalla Hills in Pakistan's ...

's completion Lal Masjid was the first and only Central Mosque of Islamabad and President

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law i ...

was a regular visitor of the mosque. upon completion of the

, Zia ul Huq wanted Ghazi to take a position at the newly built mosque as its first Imam but Ghazi did not take the offer.

Establishing Jamia Faridia

In 1966, He established a small seminary at Lal Masjid, in which there were about 20 to 25 students for the Hifz class. After some time a need was felt to have a bigger place for running this seminary so that a large number of students who were increasing with the passage of time could be accommodated. Hence In 1971, a place in the meadows of the

Margalla Hills The Margalla Hills () are a hill range within the Margalla Hills National Park on the northern edge of Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan, just south of Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They are part of the Himalayan foothills. The ...

in the city's Prime Sector E-7, was acquired with the help and cooperation of several of his close friends most notably Seth Haroon Jaffer (Jaffer Group of Companies), Haji Akhtar Hassan (OSD Kashmir Affairs &

Finance Secretary The Finance Secretary () is the administrative head of the Ministry of Finance. This post is held by senior IAS officer of the rank of Secretary to Government of India. T. V. Somanathan is the incumbent Finance Secretary. As a Secretary to G ...

Azad Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger K ...

), and Admiral Mohammad. Shariff, NI(M), HJ (Rtd). The seminary was shifted to the present building and it was named "

" and later became known as " Al Faridia University". In 1992, he laid the foundation for

, which later on became the largest female seminary of Asia, Maulana remained the Chancellor for Both Seminaries till his Assassination in 1998

Soviet–Afghan War

During the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

(1979–1989), the Red Mosque played a major role in recruiting and training Mujahideen to fight alongside the Afghan Mujahideen against Soviet troops.

Meeting Bin Laden

A few months before his assassination in 1998, Ghazi and his friend Zahoor Ahmad Alwi (Founder Jamia Muhammadia) and some other scholars went to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

. He took his rebellious son especially with him. This delegation met

Mullah Omar Mullah Muhammad Omar (; –April 2013) was an Afghan Islamic revolutionary who founded the Taliban and served as the supreme leader of Afghanistan from Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001), 1996 to 2001. Born into a religious family of ...

, Osama Bin Laden and

Ayman Al Zawahiri Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri (June 19, 1951 – July 31, 2022) was an Egyptian-born Islamic terrorism, terrorist and physician who served as the second emir of al-Qaeda from June 16, 2011, until his death. Al-Zawahiri graduated from Cair ...

Assassination

His biographer, Riaz Mansoor, states that Maulana had a routine every day whereby he would walk to a seminary for giving lectures (7 km away from the Red-Mosque). On the day of his assassination, he walked to

and returned by car at noon. As he got out of the car, his elder son

Abdul Aziz Ghazi Abdul Aziz ( ur, ) is a Pakistani cleric and sermon preacher at Lal Masjid, Islamabad, which was the site of a siege in 2007 with the Pakistani army. He is also the current Chancellor of Jamia Hafsa and Jamia Faridia, Aziz was released from cu ...

approached him and spoke to him. When Ghazi approached his house, a man standing in front of the door walked towards him and pulled out a gun and opened fire until the magazine was empty, badly injuring Ghazi. Afterwards, he fired at Abdul Aziz, who barely escaped death. The assassin escaped with the help of an accomplice waiting outside in a car. Maulana died of his injuries on the way to the hospital. The

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Rafiq Tarar Muhammad Rafiq Tarar (; ur, ; 2 November 1929 – 7 March 2022) was a Pakistani politician and jurist who served as the ninth president of Pakistan from January 1998 until his resignation in June 2001, and prior to that as a senator from Punja ...

expressed his sadness over the assassination in a letter, adding that ''"Maulana Abdullah Ghazi had spent his whole life for Islam, and kept the tradition of Ulema alive, his struggles will forever be remembered"''. He is buried in the courtyard of Faridia University,

. The seminary's

Jamia Masjid A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.* * * * * * * ...

is named after him. In his honour his hometown was also renamed "

" and a new seminary was constructed there, the town gained worldwide attention in 2007 when

Abdul Rashid Ghazi Abdul Rashid Ghazi ( ur, عبد الرشید غازی; – 10 July 2007) was a Pakistani Islamic fundamentalist who served as the vice-chancellor of Faridia University. Prior to his radicalisation, he served as a diplomat for UNESCO. He was t ...

was buried in the courtyard of the seminary, Abdullah Railway Station near the town is also named after him. Moulana Abdullah Grave

FIR and Case

Due to a lack of trust in Pakistan's legal system, Ghazi's elder

son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

refused to lodged FIR, but his younger son,

lodged the FIR and the police investigated the case. After a relentless effort, a man was arrested and afterwards, during the ID parade, an eyewitness identified the assassin. However, he was released the next day without reason.

protested against the release and warned the police of legal action if the suspect was not arrested soon. With Ghazi increasing pressure on police, he was asked to withdraw the case or face the fate of his father. According to his friend, this was a turning point in Ghazi's life, and he became disillusioned with the system.

Memoir

In 2005, a memoir was published by Maktaba Faridia detailing his life under the name ''Hayat Shaheed E Islam'' ( ur, }) Written b''y Mufti Riaz Munsoor.''

References

*Biography Book: ''Hayat Shaheed E Islam'' ( ur, }) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghazi, Muhammad Abdullah 1935 births 1998 deaths Assassinated Pakistani Islamic scholars Deobandis Pakistani religious leaders Pakistani Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Deaths by firearm in Islamabad Assassinated religious leaders Baloch people People from Rajanpur District Jamia Qasim Ul Uloom alumni