Sirajul Haq

Early life and education Siraj-ul-Haq was born in Meerzo village of Shabqadar Tehsil in Charsadda District. However, he paternally belongs to Samarbagh in Lower Dir District. His father was a graduate of Darul Uloom Deoband and the superintendent (مہتمم) of a Madrassa. He received his early education in local regional schools and studied political science in the University of Peshawar and MA (Education) from University of Punjab in 1990. At university, he studied the books of Maulana Syed Abul Aala Maududi and Maulana Naeem Siddiqui.

He remained the Deputy Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami until 30 March 2014 when he was elected as the Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan. In accordance with party rules whereby intra-party elections are held every five years, he was re-elected as Ameer (chief) of Jamaat-e-Islami in March 2019, until March 2024. He remains immensely popular in his constituency and is known for his modesty among friends and foes alike.

He resigned from the Ministry of Finance in June 2014 right after the budget because, according to party rules, one person cannot hold two offices at the same time. At that time, he was Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami and Senior Minister in KPK Assembly.

He gained immense popularity when Imran Khan and Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri announced the Long March against Prime Minister Muhammad Mian Nawaz Sharif. He acted as a neutral figure. He convinced the government and Imran Khan to negotiate and due to his efforts the government became stable. He said that the Jamaat-e-Islami would not let democracy be derailed and, political differences aside, democracy would be saved. For his efforts, he received an award from the government of Pakistan on 14 August 2014 from President Mamnoon Hussain.

In 2015, he fought and won the election for senate. He is considered to be a senior member of the Parliament of Pakistan.

During the 2018 general elections, he lost the national assembly seat NA-7 Lower Dir II to his rival candidate, Muhammad Bashir Khan of PTI, by a margin of 16,144 votes and was the runner up.

Writings Siraj-ul-Haq has authored opinion pieces, notably in Narratives Magazine, where he addressed issues such as the Kashmir conflict and the critique of dynastic politics in Pakistan.