Who's Who - Islamic Ideological Council NWFP

Rifatullah Orakzai

BBC Urdu

Publishing Date: Friday, January 2 2004

The proposed Shariat Bill put forward in the NWFP assembly was forwarded by a 21 member panel of the Islamic Ideological Council. Members of this panel including religious scholars, experienced law makers, national and provincial assembly members, and minority representatives.

Of the 21 members, 5 belonged to Jamiat Ulema e Islam, 4 to Jamat e Islami, and one each from rest of the MMA coalition parties. Apart from this, there is one member from the Shiite party and another from a Christian party. All the members are experts in their own relevant fields.

Chairman - Mufti Ghulam ur Rahman The chairman of the council is Maulana Mufti Ghulam ur Rahman. He is the principal of Jamia Usmania in Nothia, Peshawar. Originally, he hails from Mansehra District. He obtained his Masters degree from Peshawar University in Islamiat and Arabic. For further studies, he went to Allama Iqbal University where he completed his M.Phil Degree. For many years, he served as a teacher in Wifaq ul Madaris, Darul Uloom Usmania in Akora Khattak. Maulana Ghulam ur Rahman has also attended courses in Jamia Al Azhar University in Egypt.

Other members are as such:

Largest number of members belong to Jamiat Ulema Islam; Fazlur Rahman Group:

The General Secretary of the Council is Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan who hails from District Dir. He is also Jamiat Ulema e Islam's (F) Deputy General Secretary and the General Secretary of Muttahida Majlis e Amal (MMA). He obtained his education from Darul Uloom Haqqania and Peshawar University. His subject area is Tafseer e Quran.
Maulana Hussain Ahmad of Jamia Usmania Nothia is also an important member of this panel. He also is a member of Fazlur Rahman's Jamiat e Ulema Islam. He first obtained his Shahadat e Almia after which he joined Peshawar University where he obtained his Masters Degree in Islamiat.
Jamiat e Ulema Islam's (F) Sheikh ul Hadees, Maulana Muhammad Idris hails from Turangzai in District Charsadda. After graduating from Wifaq ul Madaris, he joined Peshawar University where he studied Arabic and Islamiat. Presently he is serving as a teacher of Hadith. In the October 2003 elections, he defeated a member of Pakistan Peoples Party Sherpao Group.
Jamiat e Ulema Islam's (F) Maulana Mufti Nizam ud Din obtained his Wifaqul Madaris Degree from Darul Uloom Korangi in Karachi after which he completed his MA Islamiat from Peshawar University. He is presently serving as principal of Madrassa Taleem ul Islam in Barikot, Swat. He spent some time behind bars when Maulana Sufi Muhammad's Tehreek e Nifaz e Shariat was at the peak of its activities.
Jamiat Ulema Islam's (F) Deputy General Secretary; Maulana Mufti Kifayatullah hails from Mansehra District. He also completed his MA Arabic and Islamiat from Peshawar University. Presently, he is principal of Madrassa Jamia Taleem ul Quran in Mansehra and Madrassa Taleem ul Quran in Alanbatar Nagrhi. He is also a member of Wifaqul Madaris Pakistan. In teaching circles, he is an expert in Hadith of Bukhari Shareef. Although he stood for elections in October 2003 from the MMA ticket, he suffered defeat.

Members of Islamic Ideological Council

The second largest number of members in the Islamic Ideological Council is that of Jamat e Islami Members:

From Mardan, Jamat's member is Doctor Ataur Rahman Mumtaz. He is son of the famous political leader Maulana Gohar ur Rahman. Dr. Inayatur Rahman is the vice principal of Jamia Tafheem ul Quran in Mardan and is also a member of the National Assembly. He obtained his Bachelors degree from the International Islamic University in Islamabad and then completed his Masters degree and Doctorate in the same institute. His subject area is that of Hadith. In the October 2003 elections, Dr. Inayat ur Rahman defeated members of both Pakistan People Party and Awami National Party.
The Ameer of Jamat e Islami NWFP is Professor Muhammad Ibrahim who hails from Bannu. Professor Ibrahim has studied Law in Dera Ismail Khan's Gomal University. After completing his education, he started practicing as a Lawyer. Later on, he completed his Masters in Journalism from the same University and joined its teaching cadre. Professor Ibrahim has also served many prison sentences over the years.
Doctor Saad is Jamat e Islami's Provincial Naib Ameer. He completed his Masters in Geography from Karachi University. Later on he completed his Doctorate from Sheffield University in UK in the same subject. Dr. Saad is in charge of Peshawar University's Geography Department and is also Dean of the science faculty. After retirement, he joined Jamat e Islami.
Arbab Usman is a law making expert and has served as the President of Peshawar Bar Council.

Other members are as such:

The only member of Jamiat Ulema Islam (Sami ul Haq) in the Panel is Maulana Yyusuf Shah. He is the Provincial General Secretary of his party since the past five years. He is appointed as a teacher at Darul Uloom Haqqania. Many Taleban officials and ministers also studied in the very same Madrassa. Because of this reason, Maulana Yusuf Shah enjoys close relations with the Taleban Leaders.
Maulana Abdul Salam Salfi belongs to the Jamiat Ahl e Hadees. He has obtained a Wifaqul Madaris degree and is the Khateeb at Masjid Ahl e Hadees in Peshawar.
Jamiat Ulema Islam's (Noorani) Hafiz Qari Owais Ahmad is a lawyer by profession. He obtained his education from Peshawar University and later on joined JUI-N. In the October elections, he lost from the joint candidate of PPP and ANP.
From the Shiites side is Allama Muhammad Ramazan Towqeer. He is a member of Islami Tahreek Pakistan (Former banned Tahreek e Jafria). He obtained his Shahadat ul Almia degree from Sultan al Fazil, Jamia Muntazar in Lahore. Presently he is serving as Vice Principal of Madrassa Jamiatul Najf, Kotli Imam Hussain, Dera Ismail Khan.
The only non-Muslim member of the council is the Christian candidate Felix Anusent. Felix contested the October 2003 elections and won on the ticket of Muttahida Majlis e Amal.

Apart from this, the other members of the council are experts of different fields of which Professor Muhammad Saleem Shah is expert of Tafseer, NWFP's Secretary Law Ameer Gulab Khan, Federal Shariat Council Islamabad's Maulana Muhammad Mutee'ur Rahman and renowned law maker Abdul Aziz Kundi.