Nizamuddin Shamzai (also Nizam al-Din Shamzai, 12 July 1952 – 30 May 2004) was a pro-Taliban
Pakistani
Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...
Deobandi
The Deobandi movement or Deobandism is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam that adheres to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. It was formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the nam ...
Sunni Islamic scholar and the senior professor of
hadith
Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
at the
Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia
Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia (, ''Jāmiā Ulūm-i Islāmīyā'' / , ''Jāmi‘at-ul-‘Ulūm-ul-Islāmīyah'') is an Islamic University in Binori Town, Banoori Town, Karachi, Pakistan. The university continues the tradition of the Darul Uloom system ...
. He was considered "one of the most important
Deobandi
The Deobandi movement or Deobandism is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam that adheres to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. It was formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the nam ...
figures in Pakistan" and "one" of the "most revered Sunni clerics" in Pakistan.
He was the mentor of
Mullah Mohammed Omar, and his
madrassa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary education or higher learning. ...
(known as Banuri Town), "taught many students who later became important members of the
Taliban
, leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders
, leader1_name = {{indented plainlist,
* Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013)
* Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016)
* Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
regime in
Kabul
Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
".
He issued religious edicts and travelled to elicit support for the
Taliban
, leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders
, leader1_name = {{indented plainlist,
* Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013)
* Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016)
* Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
, including a called for a “jihad” against the US after the
Al-Qaeda
, image = Flag of Jihad.svg
, caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions
, founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden
, leaders = {{Plainlist,
* Osama bin Lad ...
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
and US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Biography
Shamzai received his early education from his native town in
Swat District
Swat District (), also known as the Swat Valley, is a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Known for its stunning natural beauty, the district is a popular tourist destination. With a populati ...
. In the 1960s he migrated to Karachi to study at Jamia Darul Khair then he enrolled in
Jamia Farooqia, Karachi. In the early 1990s, he got his Ph.D. degree from
University of Sindh
The University of Sindh (; ; informally known as Sindh University) is a public research university in Pakistan located in the city of Jamshoro in the Sindh province. It is one of the oldest universities in Pakistan and was certified by ISO in 2 ...
on
Imam Bukhari
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm al-Juʿfī al-Bukhārī (; 21 July 810 – 1 September 870) was a 9th-century Persian Muslim ''muhaddith'' who is widely regarded as the most important ''hadith'' scholar in the history ...
's teachers.
Shamzai spent about 20 years teaching in
Jamia Farooqia and joined
Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia
Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia (, ''Jāmiā Ulūm-i Islāmīyā'' / , ''Jāmi‘at-ul-‘Ulūm-ul-Islāmīyah'') is an Islamic University in Binori Town, Banoori Town, Karachi, Pakistan. The university continues the tradition of the Darul Uloom system ...
where he succeeded to become Shaykh al-Hadith in 1997.
He had close relations with
Bin Laden and
Mullah Umar and was member of the clerical delegation which went to
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
for a discussion about handing over of
Bin Laden in September 2001.
He was however, a spiritual advisor of
Mullah Umar and had travelled globally to elicit Islamic support for
Taliban
, leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders
, leader1_name = {{indented plainlist,
* Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013)
* Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016)
* Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
.
He was Chief Mufti of
Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia
Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia (, ''Jāmiā Ulūm-i Islāmīyā'' / , ''Jāmi‘at-ul-‘Ulūm-ul-Islāmīyah'') is an Islamic University in Binori Town, Banoori Town, Karachi, Pakistan. The university continues the tradition of the Darul Uloom system ...
and wrote books on
jihad
''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
and issued fatwa's in favor of the
Taliban
, leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders
, leader1_name = {{indented plainlist,
* Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013)
* Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016)
* Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
.
Shamzai was shot dead by assassins on 31 March 2004 in
Karachi
Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
. His killing instigated the ransacked of the Jamshed Quarters police station, burning of about "20 vehicles, two bank branches and a petrol station", and shooting and injuring of six people.
Some "15,000 paramilitary soldiers and police were deployed" in Karachi to prevent further violence, and specifically to protect
Shia
Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...
Muslims.
His funeral prayer was led by
Abdur Razzaq Iskander
Abdur Razzaq Iskander (1935 – 30 June 2021; ) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar and writer. He was the chancellor and senior hadith-professor of Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia, emir of the Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nubuwwat and the president of Wifa ...
, and was attended by
Akram Khan Durrani
Akram Khan Durrani (, ; born 2 March 1960) is a Pakistani politician who was the Leader of the Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in office from 2 October 2018 till 18 January 2023. He previously served as the Chief M ...
, former Chief Minister of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...
, and
Fazal-ur-Rehman, President of
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F)
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan also known the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam or simply as Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) (; ; JUI (F)) is an Islamic fundamentalist political party in Pakistan. Established as the ''Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam'' in 1945, it is th ...
.
A September 2015 report from
The Express Tribune
''The Express Tribune'' is a daily English-language newspaper based in Pakistan. It is the flagship publication of the '' Lakson Group'' media group. It is Pakistan's only internationally affiliated newspaper in a partnership with the '' Intern ...
says that alleged killer of Shamzai was arrested by Karachi police.
Views and legacy
According to Farhan Zahid, Shamzai's ideological influence over jihadi organisations in Pakistan and Afghanistan is "unremitting". His ideology and thoughts" It "produced a number of terrorist and extremist organisations. Until his death he "issued fatwas, held messianic and anti-Semitic views, glorified Al-Qaeda and the Taliban".
[
]
9/11, US, and jihad
Immediately after the 9/11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
on the United States, Shamzai was quoted in an interview by the New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
stating, "It is wrong to kill innocent people and it is also wrong to praise those who kill innocent people."
However, by October, Pakistan under President Musharraf, had allied itself with the American " War on terror". His government banned Pakistan paramilitary groups Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) , Army of Jhangvi) was a Deobandi terrorist organisation driven by a Takfiri Anti-Shia ideology based in Afghanistan. The LeJ was an offshoot of anti-Shia party Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). The LeJ was founde ...
and Sipah-e-Muhammad
Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan (S.M.P) (; ; English: ''Soldiers of Muhammad'') was a Shia organisation and political party in Pakistan which turned into an assassination/militant organization it has claimed credit for a series of target Killings of ...
, widely believed to be involved in sectarian killings. Shortly after, Shamzai issued a ''fatwa
A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...
'' calling for ''Jihad
''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
'' against the US and Pakistani States.
According to scholar Farhan Zahid, the fatwa meant "that violent jihad" was "obligatory for all Muslims", and "young able-bodied Muslim men" were required "to wage violent jihad against the US on behalf of Afghanistan and this required the killing of Americans, Jews, as well as attacking businesses and military installations." (Pakistan, of course, was one of the" governments of the Muslim countries who side with America".) Shamzai and his fatwa were, according to Zahid, "instrumental in galvanising anti-American protest movements in Pakistan after the 9/11" against the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan in 2001 and in the thousands of Pakistanis who later "joined the Afghan Taliban".[ In one lecture he preached that "violent jihad was the only solution for numerous problems confronting the Muslim world."][
]
Islam and ''Kul-eBandigi''
In preaching the''Kul-eBandigi'' (devout following of Islam) concept, Shamzai emphasises ''Kasur'', i.e. the mistake
committed by too many in the Muslim community (ummah) of not participating in violent jihad in Afghanistan, Kashmir, Chechnya, Burma and elsewhere. Practicing the five pillars of Islam by praying salat
''Salah'' (, also spelled ''salat'') is the practice of formal ibadah, worship in Islam, consisting of a series of ritual prayers performed at prescribed times daily. These prayers, which consist of units known as rak'a, ''rak'ah'', include ...
, fasting during Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...
, paying zakat
Zakat (or Zakāh زكاة) is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Zakat is the Arabic word for "Giving to Charity" or "Giving to the Needy". Zakat is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam a relig ...
and going on hajj
Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...
pilgrimage was insufficient. Having "failed to fulfil its responsibilities", the Ummah was as a consequence "weak, defeated, humiliated, and enslaved".[
]
Taliban and other Jihadi groups
Shamzai is thought to have convinced Mullah Umar to wage war against the United States of America
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...
. He "promoted the Afghan Taliban regime, their religious practices, enforcement of Sharia laws, treatment of women and minorities and
legtimised their actions through his fatwas".[
Shamzai was "the chief patron" of ]Jaish-e-Mohammed
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is a Pakistani Deobandi jihadist Islamist militant group active in Kashmir.: "as soon as he was freed, Masood Azhar was back in Pakistan where he founded a new jihadist movement, Jaish-e-Mohammed, which became one of ...
(JeM) and the JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar was Shamzai's "favorite student at Binori Town madrassa". Shamzai also "issued Fatwas in support of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (; HUM) is a Pakistan-based Islamist jihadist group operating primarily in Kashmir. (HuM)", and leaders of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami
Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (, HuJI) is a Pakistani Islamist extremist, fundamentalist and terrorist organization affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
It has been the most active in the South Asian countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indi ...
(HuJI) "were his students". Shamzai "used his relations with the Grand Mufti Abd al-Aziz Ibn Baz
Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah Al Baz (; 21 November 1912 – 13 May 1999), known as Ibn Baz or Bin Baz, was a Saudi Islamic scholar who served as the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia from 1993 until his death in 1999.
According to French political scientis ...
of Saudi Arabia to get funding from the Saudi religious affairs ministry".
Bin Laden & Bin Umar
Shamzai is described as having had "close relations" with Al Qaeda's founder, Osama Bin Laden & An Nabeweyah's founder, Hamza Bin Umar, and is thought to have convinced Mullah Umar to reject the Americans’ demand for the handing over of Osama bin Laden, Hamza Bin Umar. Representative of his feelings was a fatwa issued in 1998 (at the forum of Majlis-eTaawun Islami Pakistan i.e. Organisation for Islamic Cooperation, of which he was Emir and founder)[
]
Anti-Semitism
Shamzai "preached systematic anti-Semitism
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
... weaved within conspiracy theories" and is credited with being a major contributor to the growth of anti-Semitism in Pakistan by Zahid.[ In addition to hating Jews he also despised the anti-jihadi media as expressed in one statement: “ Dawn the newspaper from ]Karachi
Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
, and others like The Frontier Post
''The Frontier Post'' is an independent English language daily newspaper founded in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 1985. It publishes from Peshawar, Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, and Quetta.
History
When the paper was founded in 1985, there were no promi ...
, The News International
''The News International'', published in broadsheet size, is one of the largest English language newspapers in Pakistan.
It is published daily from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/ Islamabad.
An overseas edition is published from London th ...
and other newspapers published in the country, are all part of Jewish media's conspiracy against Islam, jihad and madrassas.”[
]
Books
Apart from contributing a weekly religious column to a daily, he wrote in several Islamic journal as well many books, including ''Zahoor-i- Imam Mehdi'' and exegeses of Sahih Bukhari
() is the first hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. Compiled by Islamic scholar al-Bukhari () in the format, the work is valued by Sunni Muslims, alongside , as the most authentic after the Qur'an.
Al-Bukhari organized the bo ...
and Jami` at-Tirmidhi
''Sunan al-Tirmidhi'' () is the fourth hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. It was compiled by Islamic scholar al-Tirmidhi in (250–270 AH).
Title
The full title of the compilation is (). It is shortened to , , , or .
The te ...
.[Obituary in ''Impact International'', Volume 34-35, Issue 4]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shamzai, Nizamuddin
1952 births
2004 deaths
Pakistani Islamic religious leaders
Pakistani Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Pashtun people
Pakistani Muslim missionaries
People from Swat District
University of Sindh alumni
Deobandis
Jamia Farooqia alumni
Religious leaders from Karachi
Assassinated Pakistani people
Islamic scholars