Shah Ahmad Nurani Siddiqi (1 October 1926 – 11 December 2003) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar and politician. He was the founder and first president of the

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal The Muttahida Majlis–e–Amal (MMA; Urdu: , ) is a political alliance consisting of conservative, Islamist, Religion in Pakistan, religious, and right-wing parties of Pakistan. Naeem Siddiqui (the founder of Tehreek e Islami) proposed such a ...

(MMA) from 2002 until his death in 2003. He was served as the president of

Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) () is an Islamist political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1948 by leaders of All India Sunni Conference. The JUP exercised considerable political influence in Pakistani politics during the 1970s to 2003. Its st ...

(JUP) from the 1970s until his death. The JUP was the main

Barelvi The Barelvi movement, also known as Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah (People of the Prophet's Way and the Community) is a Sunni revivalist movement that generally adheres to the Hanafi school, Hanafi and Shafi'i school, Shafi'i schools of jurisprudenc ...

political party of Pakistan until the establishment of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan in 2015. Siddiqi was a co-founder of the World Islamic Mission. Active in politics since the 1970s, agitating against military dictator

General Zia-ul-Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also served as the second chief of ...

in the 1980s, and after disassociating from politics during most of the 1990s, he made a notable comeback after rigorously opposing the regime of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...

and further forming an ultra–conservative alliance for joint opposition to the regime. Assuming the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

(MMA), he was known to use tough rhetoric against Musharraf and formed a public support against Musharraf's policies in the country.

Early life and education

Ahmad Nurani was born in

Meerut Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(now

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

), into an

Urdu-speaking Native speakers of Urdu are spread across South Asia. The vast majority of them are Muslims of the Hindi Belt, Hindi–Urdu Belt of northern India, followed by the Deccanis, Deccani people of the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in south-central I ...

Siddiqui Shaikh family on 31 March 1926 (17 Ramadan 1344). His father, Abdul Aleem Siddiqi was also an Islamic scholar and had accompanied him on Islamic missionary tours to various parts of the world in his early youth. He received his BA degree in

Arabic language Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

from the

Allahabad University The University of Allahabad is a Central University located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 23 September 1887 by an act of Parliament and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance (INI). It is the 4th oldest mode ...

, and certified from the Darul-Uloom in Meerut in

Islamic jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

. He became a hafiz-ul-Quran at the age of eight. His family moved to

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 ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

, Pakistan after the partition of

. He established himself as Islamic scholar and worked in the developing the

Islamic philosophy Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—''falsafa'' (), which refers to philosophy as well as logic, mathematics, and p ...

as well as helping found the World Islamic Mission, based in

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

in 1972. He has been described as a

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

who "was conversant with 17 languages and eloquent in six,

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, English, Persian, French and Swahili."

Political career

Member of National Assembly

Nurani was elected as member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

from Constituency NW-134 (Karachi-VII) after participating in

general elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

held in 1970 on

's platform. The second time he was elected as MNA from Constituency NA-167 (Hyderabad-II) in 1977 Pakistani general election. Since then, his influence on national politics further grew and he became a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

in 1980s.

Role for strengthening democracy in Pakistan

Nurani took stand against the martial law regime of

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until Death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also se ...

. His party was one of the founding members of Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) formed on January 10, 1977 and “Pakistan Awami Ittihad” (PAI) in 1988. During Zia's regime, he raised his voice for the rehabilitation of the political parties, restoration of the judicial powers and finishing the military courts, elimination of the Martial law; and announcement of the election schedule. He was also guiding force for the formation of another electoral alliance Islami Jamhuri Mahaz in May 1999. Through his efforts, Nurani, formed an alliance of six religious, political parties, named as the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), came into being in 2001. He was chosen as its founding President.

Religious views

Nurani argued with ideologies such as the

Deobandism 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 name ...

and

Wahhabism Wahhabism is an exonym for a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to oth ...

and most strictly with the

Qadiani Qadiani (, ; ) is a religious slur used to refer to Ahmadi Muslims, primarily in Pakistan. The term originates from Qadian, a small town in northern India, the birthplace of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement. While it i ...

(the cursed ones). He spent his scholarly life in promoting Barelvism and Ahmad Raza Khan as the

Mujaddid A ''mujaddid'' () is an Islamic term for one who brings "renewal" () to the religion. According to the popular Muslim tradition, it refers to a person who appears at the turn of every century of the Islamic calendar to revitalize Islam, clean ...

(Islamic reviver) of the 14th Islamic century.

Death

On 11 December 2003 (17 Shawwal 1424), Nurani died when he was preparing to leave his residence for the Parliament House to address a press conference along with other opposition leaders at noon.The 78-year old religious scholar was struck by a fatal cardiac seizure at his residence in Islamabad, his assistants said. The funeral prayer was done in Nishtar Park on Friday and he was buried at the foot of his mother in the graveyard situated in the premises of the

Abdullah Shah Ghazi Abdullah Shah Ghazi () (c. 720 - c. 773) was a Muslim mystic and Sufi whose shrine is located in Clifton in Karachi, in Sindh province of Pakistan. Life in Sindh Abdullah Shah Ghazi was born in 98 Hijri Or 109 Hijri. In 738 he came to Karac ...

Mausoleum in Karachi.

Condolences

expressed profound grief in a condolence message in which he paid tribute to Nurani for his "great services for Pakistan and his tremendous contributions to national politics. MMA General Secretary Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman described the passing away of Nurani as a "great loss for the whole nation." Fazal said Nurani was a "moderate, polite and kind person and due to his qualities he was elected as chief of the united religious front.

Theological and doctrinal writings

Shah Ahmad Noorani Siddiqi was a prolific author of theological works rooted in the Sunni-Hanafi (

Maturidi Maturidism () is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu Mansur al-Maturidi. It is one of the three creeds of Sunni Islam alongside Ash'arism and Atharism, and prevails in the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. Al-Maturidi codified a ...

) tradition, defending traditional Barelvi positions, and exploring key doctrinal questions. The following are notable among his works: * ''اسما و صفات'' (Asmāʼ wa Ṣifāt) – Published by the World Islamic Mission (Karachi) in the 1980s–1990s, this work deals with the divine names and attributes of Allah in accordance with

Ashʿari Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...

and Maturidi theology. Noorani refutes literalist and

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

interpretations, emphasizing the transcendence of God. * ''عظمتِ مصطفیٰ'' (ʿAẓmat‑e‑Muṣṭafā) – A devotional-theological treatise upholding the exalted status of the Prophet Muhammad. The book elaborates on his spiritual rank, miracles, and intercessory role (''

tawassul Tawassul, is an Arabic word originated from 'wasilat'. The ''wasilah'' is a means by which a person, goal or objective is approached, attained or achieved. In another version of the meaning of tawassul in another text: Tawassul is an Arabic word t ...

''), reflecting core Barelvi positions. * ''رؤیتِ باری تعالیٰ'' (Ruʾyat‑e‑Bārī Taʿālā) – A theological defense of the Sunni belief in the beatific vision (''ruʾya'') of God in the afterlife. The book argues against anthropomorphism while maintaining the orthodox position affirmed by the majority of Ahl al-Sunnah. * ''رسالہ فی علم الغیب'' (Risāla fī ʿIlm al‑Ghayb) – A concise Urdu treatise supporting the belief in the Prophet's knowledge of the unseen (''ʿilm al-ghayb''). Noorani affirms that such knowledge is divinely granted and not comparable to divine omniscienceAcademic references in Barelvi theological circles; NafseIslam.com archives Many of these works were published in pamphlet or booklet format and distributed through the World Islamic Mission, which Shah Noorani co-founded. Their influence persists within Barelvi madrasas and among Urdu-speaking Sunni communities worldwide.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmad Noorani, Shah 1926 births 2003 deaths Muhajir people Islam in India Islam in Pakistan World Islamic Mission People from Meerut Pakistani Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam University of Allahabad alumni Islamic democracy activists Urdu-language non-fiction writers Pakistani theologians Quranic exegesis scholars Islamic mysticism Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan politicians Barelvis Critics of Ahmadiyya Scholars from Karachi Politicians from Karachi Indian emigrants to Pakistan