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Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP, , Guardians of the Prophet's Companions), renamed to Millat-e-Islamia, is a Islamist organisation in Pakistan, which also functioned as a
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
. It broke away from the main Deobandi Sunni organisation Jamiatul Ulema-e-Islam in 1985. Established in Jhang by Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, it was banned by President
Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...
in 2002 as a terrorist organization under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997.B. Raman
"Musharraf's Ban: An Analysis"
''South Asia Analysis Group'', Paper no. 395, 18 January 2002
In March 2012, the government of
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
banned Sipah-e-Sahaba again. The government of the United Kingdom banned the group earlier in 2001. On 26 June 2018, before that year’s election, the Government of Pakistan lifted the ban on Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan. Many Incident causes On August 2019 Sabzazar Lahore Division Leader Hafiz Owais Akram was criticized for doing social work against them and then acquitted him of high support. Their main current front is the Pakistan Rah-e-Haq Party, which they contested the 2018 general elections with and the 2020 Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly elections with.


History

Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan was formed in 1985 by Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, Zia ur Rehman Farooqi,
Isar-ul-Haq Qasmi Isar ul Haq Qasmi (who died in 1991) was a Pakistani Islamic cleric, preacher and a member of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan. He had been member of the National Assembly of Pakistan between 1990 and 1993 representing Jhang constituency. Born in 1964 t ...
and Azam Tariq in 1985 originally as Anjuman Sipah-e-Sahaba in Jhang, Pakistan. The original purpose was to fight Shi'ite landlords dominance in Jhang and surrounding areas in a majority Sunni population. Later, they became violent and started to attack Shi'ite Muslims. From 1980s, they are involved in various terrorist activities and murder of thousands of Shi'ites. They are operating all over Pakistan and are politically active having large vote bank in
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
and
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
(KP). They are widely organized and have more than five hundred offices throughout country. In 1996, many left the group and formed another organization
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ; ur, ) or "Army of Jhangvi", is a Deobandi Sunni supremacist, terrorist and jihadist militant organisation based in Afghanistan. The organisation operates in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is an offshoot of anti-Shi ...
(LeJ). In 2002,
Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...
government declared the group as terrorist organization and was banned. However, later, they renamed it and launched it under the name of Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan. They were again banned in 2003. After the death of Azam Tariq, Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi was selected as the president. A leader of Sipah-e-Sahaba was a minister in the coalition Government in
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
in 1993 and the group has held seats in the
Pakistan National Assembly The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower legislative house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which also comprises the Senate of Pakistan (upp ...
. When Jhangvi was assassinated in 1990 by presumed Shi'a militants, Zia ur Rehman Farooqi assumed leadership of the group. Zia ur Rehman Farooqi died in a bomb explosion on 19 January 1997 at the
Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
Session Court. After his death, Azam Tariq led the group until October 2003, when he was also killed in an attack widely attributed to the militant Shi'a organization Sipah-e-Muhammad, along with four others. Its leader (sarparast-aala), Ali Sher Haideri, was killed in an ambush in 2009. Then Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi was selected as sarparast-e-aala with Aurangzaib Farooqi as the president of the organization.


Strength

The organization has 500 offices and branches in all provinces of Pakistan including Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. It also has approximately 300,000 registered workers in Pakistan and 17 branches in countries including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Canada and the United Kingdom. Its regular publications include the monthlies ''Khilafat-e-Rashida'', ''Aab-e-Hayat'' and ''Genius''.Muhammad Amir Rana, "Jihadi Print Media in Pakistan: An Overview" in ''Conflict and Peace Studies'', vol. 1, no. 1 (Oct-Dec 2008), p. 4


Affiliations

*In 1996 elements within the Sipah-e-Sahaba who did not believe the organisation violent enough left to form the
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ; ur, ) or "Army of Jhangvi", is a Deobandi Sunni supremacist, terrorist and jihadist militant organisation based in Afghanistan. The organisation operates in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is an offshoot of anti-Shi ...
. *In October 2000, Masood Azhar, founder of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed, was quoted as saying that "Sipah-e-Sahaba stands shoulder to shoulder with
Jaish-e-Muhammad Jaish-e-Mohammed ( ur, , literally "The Army of Muhammad", abbreviated as JeM) is a Pakistan-based: "The JEM is a Pakistan-based, militant Islamic group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in March 2000." Deobandi: "Deobandis like Masood Azhar ...
in Jihad." A leaked U.S. diplomatic cable described it as "another Sipah-e-Sahaba breakaway Deobandi organisation." *A diplomatic cable, originally dated 23 October 2009 and later leaked to the media, from the U.S. embassy in
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 Capital ...
indicated that
Qari Hussain Qari Hussain Ahmad Mehsud (Pashto/Urdu: قارى حسین احمد) (6 December 1988 – 7 October 2010) was a top lieutenant in the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the organizer of the group's suicide bombing squads. He was a cousin of Hak ...
, a leading militant of the
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bo ...
, had roots in the defunct Sipah-e-Sahaba and that many of the Taliban's foot soldiers are from Sipah-e-Sahaba ranks. * According to Animesh Roul, Ahle-Sunnat-Wal-Jamat is a front group for SSP, and is also banned in Pakistan.


See also

* List of Deobandi organisations *
Anti-Shi'ism Anti-Shi'ism is hatred of, prejudice against, discrimination against, persecution of, and violence against Shia Muslims because of their religious beliefs, traditions, and cultural heritage. The term was first used by Shia Rights Watch in 2011 ...
* Genocide of Kashmiri Shias * Madhe Sahaba Agitation * Persecution of Hazara people * Persecution of Shias by ISIL *
Syed Ahmad Barelvi Syed Ahmad Barelvi or Sayyid Ahmad Shaheed (1786–1831) was an Indian Islamic revivalist, scholar and military commander from Raebareli, a part of the historical United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (now called Uttar Pradesh). He is consider ...


References

{{Authority control Deobandi Violence against Shia Muslims in Pakistan Organisations designated as terrorist by Pakistan Organisations designated as terrorist by the United Kingdom Anti-Shi'ism 1985 establishments in Pakistan Deobandi organisations Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan Lashkar-e-Jhangvi