Ihsan Ilahi Zahir

Ehsan Elahi Zaheer ( – 30 March 1987) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar who was the founder of Jamiat Ahle Hadith.

He died from an assassin's bomb blast in 1987. He was taken to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in an injured condition on the orders of King Fahad. He died in Riyadh and, according to his last wishes, was buried in the Jannat al-Baqi Cemetery in Medina. His assassination marked the beginning of the sectarian violence in Pakistan. He also received an LLB from the University of Karachi.

Political career

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. He was also the editor of monthly Tarjuman Ahl al-Hadith, and the khatib of Masjid Ahl al-Hadith in Lahore.

Zaheer had three sons, themselves involved in Islamic scholarship and activism: Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer, Hisham Elahi Zaheer and Motasim Elahi Zaheer.

Books Zaheer wrote fifteen books, mainly in Arabic, although his works have been translated into Urdu and many other languages. After 1979, his works were translated and published across South and South-east Asia. al-Shīʻah wa-al-Sunnah, Idārat Turjumān al-Sunnah, 1977, 216 pages. al-Bābīyah : ʻarḍ wa-naqd, Idārat Tarjumān al-Sunnah, 1981, 288 pages. al-Bahāʼīyah : naqd wa-taḥlīl, Idārat Tarjumān al-Sunnah, 1981, 375 pages. Aš-Šhīʻa wa-ahl al-bait, Idārat Tarjumān al-Sunnah, 1982, 316 pages. Aš-Šhīʻa wa'l-Qurʼān, Idārat Tarjumān al-Sunnah, 1983, 352 pages. al-Barīlawīya : ʻaqāʼid wa-taʼrīḫ, Idārat Tarjumān al-Sunnah, 1983, 253 pages. Bayna al-Shīʻah wa-ahl al-Sunnah, Idārat Tarjamān al-Sunnah, 1985, 218 pages. Ismāīlīyah : tārīkh wa-aqāid, Idārah Tarjumān al-Sunnah, 1986, 757 pages.

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.