Zafar Ali Khan

Zafar Ali Khan (1873 – 27 November 1956) was a Pakistani writer, poet, translator and a journalist who used his journalism against the British rule. He was one of the Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam's founding members.

Working with both Islamic and Western knowledge and contemporary trends in economics, sociology and politics, he is considered one of the fathers of Urdu journalism.

Early life and education Zafar was born in the Sialkot District in 1873 into a Punjabi family of the Rajput Janjua clan, as per the contemporary report of 1920.

He received his early education at Mission High School, Wazirabad, Wazirabad District, matriculated (10th grade) from Patiala, and passed his intermediate (12th grade) from the Aligarh College in 1895. Next, he worked in the postal department of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the same place where his father worked, but resigned over a row with his seniors. He rejoined Aligarh College and gained his BA degree from there; stood fifth in his batch.

Career

Journalism After graduation, Khan was appointed secretary to a Muslim political leader Mohsin-ul-Mulk, then in Bombay. Then he worked for some time as a translator in Hyderabad, Deccan, rising to the post of Secretary, Home Department. He returned from Hyderabad and took over the daily Zamindar newspaper from Lahore in 1908, founded by his father Maulvi Sirajuddin Ahmad in 1903. At one time, this newspaper was an important newspaper of the Punjab.

Relation with the Ahmadiyya Movement Zafar Ali Khan's relationship with the Ahmadiyya was belligerent. He was among the vanguard, who censured Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from Qadian by writing satirical poems against him. He even wrote the preface to the book "His Holiness", which was written as a refutation of the Ahmadiyya movement. Later on, when Pakistan was created, he was an ardent participant in the 1953 Tehreek e Khatm e Nabuwat (a movement against the Ahmadis), writing articles against them.

Poetry He chose to write in Urdu. Khan's interest in poetry began in his childhood. His poems have religious and political sentiments.

Most popular Naats Woh Shama Ujalaa Jis Ne Kiya 40 Baras Tak Ghaaron Mein sung by Mehdi Hassan, a Radio Pakistan production, a popular Naat written by Zafar Ali Khan '' sung by Muneeba Sheikh, a Pakistan Television production, a popular Naat written by Zafar Ali Khan

Death and legacy He died on 27 November 1956, and was buried in Wazirabad, Punjab. thumb

Sahiwal Stadium, а multi-purpose stadium in Sahiwal, Punjab, was renamed as Zafar Ali Stadium in his honour. It is used for football and cricket games. The stadium holds 10,000 people.

Zafar Ali Khan was an active member of the Khilafat Movement and a close associate of Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar. A public degree college in Wazirabad is named after him as Government Maulana Zafar Ali Khan Degree College.

Commemorative postage stamp Pakistan Post issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honor in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series.

Books Some of his notable publications include:

Poetry Bahāristān Nigāristān Camanistān Rahāristān Armag̲h̲ān-i Qādiyān Kulliyāt-i Maulānā Ẓafar ʻAlī K̲h̲ān Ḥabsiyāt Nashīd-i Shīrāz, collection of Persian poems and articles published in different periodicals K̲h̲amistān-i Ḥijāz, poetry about Muhammad

Essays G̲h̲albah-yi Rūm: ek tārīk̲h̲ī tafsīr, historical commentary of Sūrat ar-Rūm on the victory of Romans over the Persians and the Muslims over the Meccan polytheists as predicted by Koran in AD 615 Taqārīr-i Maulānā Ẓafar ʻAlī K̲h̲ān̲, speeches of the author, especially in regard with the Khilafat movement Lat̤āʼifuladab, on the relation between literature and Islam Mʻaās̲h̲irat, on the social sciences Jamāluddīn Afg̲h̲ānī: yaʻnī itiḥād-i Islāmī ke muharrik-i aʻzīm, Misr, Ṭarkī, Īrān aur Hindūstān ke z̲arīʻah ʻalim-i Islām man̲, biography of the Muslim reformer and independence fighter Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī

Plays Jang-i Rus va Japān: yaʻnī ek tārīk̲h̲ī ḍrāmā, a play on the Russian Japanese War, (1904–1905)

Translations Jangal buk, Urdu translation from the English of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book Al-Farooq: the life of Omar the Great, English translation from the Urdu of Shibli Nomani's Al-Farooq, a biography of Umar