Zafar Ali Khan

Zafar Ali Khan (1873– 27 November 1956) (Punjabi: ظفرؔ علی خان – Ẓafar ʿAlī Xān), also known as Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, was a Pakistani writer, poet, translator and a journalist[2] who played an important role in the Pakistan Movement against the British Raj.[3][4] Apart from Islamic religious sciences, he was well-versed in the latest theories of economics, sociology and politics, and for his erudition as well as methods, is generally considered to be "the father of Urdu journalism."[5]

Zafar Ali Khan
Tomb of Zafar Ali Khan
Born1873[1][2]
Kot Mehrath, Sialkot District, Punjab
Died27 November 1956[1][2]
Wazirabad, Punjab
OccupationPoet, journalist[1]

Early life

Zafar was born into a Punjabi Janjua family in Sialkot, British India. He received his early education at Mission High School, Wazirabad, Gujranwala District.,[6] matriculated (10th grade) from Patiala, and passed his intermediate (12th grade) from the Aligarh College. Next, he worked in the postal department of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the same place where his father worked, but resigned over a row with his seniors.[6][7] He rejoined Aligarh College and gained his BA degree from there.[7]

Career

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 launched his daily Zamindar newspaper from Lahore which was founded by his father Maulvi Sirajuddin Ahmad.[7][8]

Relation with the Ahmadiyya Movement

Zafar Ali Khan's relationship with the Ahmadiyya movement was complex. His father had been an ardent admirer of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and other leading Ahmadis such as Maulana Hakeem Noor-ud-Din.[9] His maternal uncle Maulana Hassan Khan and his cousins were also prominet Lahori Ahmadis.[10] He worked on multiple collaborative projects with Ahmadis such as Khwaja Kamaluddin and even praised the movement. However, in the 1930s he published Anti Ahmadi vitrol in the Zamindar, and even wrote some anti Ahmadi poetry.[11]Close to the time of death there was still some socail interaction and amicability as the second Ahmadi Khalifa, Mirza Bashir ud din Mahmood, personally paid for his medical care until his passing in 1956.[12]

Poetry

He chose to write in Urdu, instead of his mother tongue Punjabi. Khan's interest in poetry began in his childhood. His poems have religious and political sentiment.[4] He was specially versed in impromptu compositions. His poetical output includes Baharistan, Nigaristan, and Chamanistan. His other works are Marka-e-Mazhab-o-Science, Ghalba-e-Rum, Sayr-e-Zulmet and an opera Jang-e-Roos-o-Japan.[13]

Death

He died on 27 November 1956, Wazirabad, Punjab. His funeral prayer was led by his companion Mohammad Abdul Ghafoor Hazarvi.[2]

Memorials and legacy

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.

He served the Pakistan Movement and is acknowledged as the father of Urdu language journalism.[3] It has been said of him: "he was the father of Urdu journalism, … the Zamindar newspaper, when Zafar Ali Khan was the proprietor and editor, was the Urdu newspaper for the Muslims."[11] Recognising Zafar Ali Khan's contributions to the Pakistan Movement, the Punjab government in Pakistan established a 'Maulana Zafar Ali Khan Trust' that initiated the 'Zafar Ali Khan Award' for outstanding journalists to be awarded every year.[16] A public degree college in Wazirabad is named after him as Government Molana Zafar Ali Khan Degree College.

Pakistan Post issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honor in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series.[1]

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
gollark: I think that if governments had actually been competent with initial containment, it wouldn't have been necessary to do lockdowns; given that they were useless, they were probably the least bad solution.
gollark: I was mostly complaining about their specific reasoning there (it is not very sensible, inasmuch as basically no possible bad event is *guaranteed* but ignoring the possibility of them is quite bad for you), but I don't agree with the rest of what they said either, so thing.
gollark: Bold of you to assume I know things.
gollark: > it's okay to not be scared of what MIGHT happenThis is such a moronically stupid attitude toward risk. Among other things.
gollark: ("you" in general)

See also

Notes

    Maulana would never miss a chance to snub the British government and the Heavens had provided him ample opportunities to carry out his sacred mission. Shaheed Ghazi Ilam Din had killed a blasphemous person and was sent to gallows in the Mianwali jail. The government buried him in Mianwali which infuriated the Muslims in Punjab. They protested and made a unanimous demand to bring Shaeed's body to Lahore but no one was prepared to give coverage to their voice as Hindus dominated most of the newspapers in the old Punjab before 1947. A large procession led by Lal Din Qaiser reached the office of Zamindar in 1903 newspaper which was the only hope for the Muslims at that time and succeeded in getting newspaper coverage for their event.

    References
    1. Profile and commemorative postage stamp image of Zafar Ali Khan on findpk.com website Retrieved 4 July 2018
    2. Rauf Parekh (19 November 2012). "Pakistani writers show renewed interest in Zafar Ali Khan's works". Dawn. Pakistan. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
    3. Raja Asad Ali Khan (27 November 2012). "Profile of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan – the history maker". The Nation (newspaper). Retrieved 4 July 2018.
    4. Markus Daechsel (1 June 2002). Politics of Self-Expression. Routledge. pp. 64–. ISBN 978-1-134-38371-9. Retrieved 4 July 2018 – via Google Books.
    5. Profile of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan The Nation (newspaper), Published 27 November 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2018
    6. Profile of Zafar Ali Khan on storyofpakistan.com website Published 1 January 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2019
    7. "Profile of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan (1873–1956)". Journalismpakistan.com website. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
    8. Ayesha Jalal (2000). Self and sovereignty: individual and community in South Asian Islam since 1850. Routledge, Google Books. pp. 184–. ISBN 978-0-415-22077-4. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
    9. Muhammad, Hafiz Sher; Aziz, Zahid (1987). The Ahmadiyya Case. Newark, California, Unites States of America: AAIL inc. pp. 297–8. ISBN 978-0913321553.
    10. "Obituary of Maulana Muhammad Adullah Khan". Paigham-e-Sulh. Issue 7: 6. 7 May 1935.
    11. "Maulana Zafar Ali Khan and British rule over Muslims of India". Ahmadiyya.org. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
    12. Pervaiz, Shahid (28 October 2012). "Ahmadiyya Muslim Character- Another Glimpse". The Muslim Outlook.
    13. K. C. Kanda (1 January 2005). Masterpieces of patriotic Urdu poetry: text, translation, and transliteration. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd, Google Books. pp. 161–. ISBN 978-81-207-2893-6. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
    14. A popular Naat written by Zafar Ali Khan on YouTube Retrieved 4 July 2018
    15. Zafar Ali Khan's Naat sung by Muneeba Sheikh. Retrieved 4 July 2018
    16. 'Zafar Ali Khan Award' for outstanding journalists initiated, The Nation (newspaper), published 18 January 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2018
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