Famous Personalities

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq

General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (Arabic: محمد ضياء الحق‎) (b. August 12, 1924–August 17, 1988) was the President and military ruler of Pakistan from July 1977 to his death in August 1988. Distinguished by his role in the Black September in Jordan military operation in 1970, he was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976. General Zia came to power after he overthrew ruling Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in a military coup d’état on July 5, 1977 and became the state’s third ruler to impose martial law. He initially ruled as Chief Martial Law Administrator, but later assumed the post of President of Pakistan in September 1978.

Zia’s major domestic initiatives included the country’s Islamization, the consolidation of the fledgling nuclear program, denationalization and deregulation leading to a rejuvenated economy, as well as the abridgement of civil and political liberties. However, he is most remembered for his foreign policy; the subsidizing of the Mujahideen movement during the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Zia was killed along with several of his top generals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistan in a sabotage-induced aircraft crash near Bahawalpur (Punjab) on August 17, 1988, the circumstances of which remain unclear. 

Hakim Mohammed Said 

 
(Urdu: حکیم محمد سعید) (January 9, 1920 – October 17, 1998) was a renowned scholar, and philanthropist of Pakistan and a former Governor of Sindh. He established Hamdard Foundation in 1948. Within few years, the herbal medical products of Hamdard became household names. Hakim Mohammed Said wrote or compiled about 200 books. These include books on religion, tibb (natural medicine), health and sciences, books on literary, social and scientific topics and travelogues.

Establishing Hamdard University
Hakim Mohammed Said founded Hamdard University in 1991. The establishment of a university which could enliven the intellectual tradition of the educational institutions of the golden era of Muslim civilization had always been his most cherished dream. In fact it was the central point towards which all his endeavors were directed. The actual appearance of the university was just the culmination of a long dedicated and continued effort spanning his whole life.
A great personality of PakistanShaheed-e-Pakistan Hakim Mohammed Said (1920-1998) was a man of vision and was endowed with many virtues. He was a multifaceted personality, a physician, author of books, and editor of journals, bibliophile, an organizer, an idealist, an innovator, educationist and above all a patriot of the highest order. He sacrificed his life in the service of the nation. In a life span of 78 years he made enormous contributions in the field of health, science, education and culture, which has left an imprint on the course of history for generations to follow.

Famous Personalities

Abdul Qadeer Khan

Early life
Khan was born Bhopal into a Urdu Speaking-Pathan family, which migrated from India to Pakistan in 1952. He obtained a B.Sc. degree in 1960 from the University of Karachi, majoring in physical metallurgy. He then obtained an engineer’s degree in 1967 from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, and a Ph.D. degree in metallurgical engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium in 1972.. He is a Pakistani nuclear scientist and metallurgical engineer, widely regarded as the founder of Pakistan’s nuclear program. His middle name is occasionally rendered as Quadeer, Qadir or Qadeer, and his given names are usually abbreviated to A.Q..

Development of nuclear weapons
In 1976, Khan was put in charge of Pakistan’s uranium enrichment program with the support of the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The uranium enrichment program was originally launched in 1974 by Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) as Project-706 and Khan joined it in the spring of 1976. Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan took over the project from another Pakistani nuclear engineer, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood in July 1976. In July of that year, he took over the project from PAEC and re-named the enrichment project as the Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL) at Kahuta, Rawalpindi, subsequently, renamed the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) by the then President of Pakistan, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. The laboratories became the focal point for developing a uranium enrichment capability for Pakistan’s nuclear weapons development programme.

Competing Against Munir Ahmad Khan and PAEC
But KRL led by dr. Khan was not mandated or involved with the actual design, development and testing of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons which was the responsibility of PAEC. Nor was KRL responsible for developing the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle, comprising uranium exploration, mining and refining and production of yellow cake, conversion of yellow cake into uranium hexafluoride gas which is the feed material for enrichment and nuclear fuel fabrication; or the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle comprising the civil and military nuclear reactor projects and the reprocessing program, all of which was developed and led from 1972 onwards by PAEC under Mr. Munir Ahmad Khan.Dr. Khan initially worked under Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), headed by Munir Ahmad Khan, for a short period. But the pair fell out, and in July 1976, Prime Minister Bhutto gave dr. Khan autonomous control of the uranium enrichment project, reporting directly to the prime minister’s office, which arrangement has continued since. Dr. Khan founded the Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL) on 31 July 1976, with the exclusive task of indigenous development of Uranium Enrichment Plant. Within the next five years the target would be achieved. KRL led by dr. A Q Khan and PAEC led by Munir Ahmad Khan created a tough institutional rivalry against each other. Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan was also a staunch critic of Munir Ahmad Khan’s work. In the early 1980s, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan’s KRL also sought to develop nuclear weapons in competetion with PAEC and claimed to have carried out at least one cold test in 1984, but it seems that this effort did not prove to be successful since PAEC led by Munir Ahmad Khan had carried out the first cold test of a working nuclear device on March 11, 1983, and in the following years continued to carry out 24 cold tests of different weapons designs. That is why PAEC also conducted the 1998 nuclear tests for Pakistan at Chaghi and Kharan.

Relationships with President Gen. Zia ul-Haq and Pakistan Army

Famous Personalities

Syed Abul A’ala Maududi 

 
(Urdu: سید ابو الاعلىٰ مودودی – alternative spellings of last name Maudoodi and Modudi) (September 25, 1903(1903-09-25) – September 22, 1979), also known as Molana (Maulana) or Shaikh Syed Abul A’ala Mawdudi, was a Sunni Pakistani journalist, theologian, Muslim Revivalist Leader and political philosopher, and a major 20th century Islamist thinker.
He was also a prominent political figure in his home country (Pakistan). He was also the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami the Islamic revivalist party.

Biography
Timeline
• 1903 – Born in Aurangabad, Hyderabad Deccan, India
• 1918 – Started career as journalist in Bijnore newspaper
• 1920 – Appointed as editor of the daily Taj, Jabalpur
• 1925 – Appointed as editor daily Muslim
• 1925 – Appointed as editor Al-jameeah, New Delhi
• 1927 – Wrote the blockbuster book of the history Al- Jihad fil Islam
• 1930 – Wrote and published the famous booklet Deenyat
• 1932 – Started Tarjuman-ul-Qur’an from Hyderabad (India)
• 1938 – Moved to “Pathankot”, established Darul Islam
• 1941 – Foundation meeting of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, appointed as Amir
• 1942 – Jamaat’s headquarters moved to Pathankot
• 1943 – Started writing the most popular Tafseer of Qur’an Tafhim-ul-Quran
• 1947 – Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Headquarter moved to Lahore (Ichhra)
• 1948 – Campaign for Islamic constitution and government
• 1948 – Wrote a booklet “Qadiyani Masla”
• 1948 – Sentenced to Jail by the Government
• 1949 – Government accepted Jamaat’s resolution for Islamic Constitution
• 1953 – Sentenced to death for his historical part in the agitation against Ahmadiyah. He was sentenced to death by a military court, but it never carried out;
• 1953 – Death sentence commuted to life imprisonment and later canceled.
• 1955 – Released from jail
• 1958 – Jamaat-e-Islami banned by Martial Law Administrator Field Martial Ayub Khan
• 1964 – Sentenced to jail
• 1964 – Released from jail
• 1971 – Ordered his followers to fight to save United Pakistan along with Pak Army.
• 1972 – Completed Tafheem-ul-Qur’an (Tafseer of Qur’an)
• 1972 – Resigned as Ameer-e-Jamaat
• 1979 – Departed to United States for Medical Treatment
• 1979 – Died in United States *1979 – Buried in Ichhra, Lahore (Inna Lillahi-wa-inna-ilayhi-Rajeeoun)

Early life
Syed Abul A’ala Maududi was born on September 25, 1903 (Rajab 3, 1321 AH) in Aurangabad, then part of the princely state of Hyderabad (presently Maharashtra), India. Syed Abul A’ala Maududi was born to Maulana Ahmad Hasan, a lawyer by profession. Syed Abul A’ala Maududi was the youngest of his three brothers. His father was “descended from the Chishti line of saints; in fact his last name was derived from the first member of the Chishti Silsilah i.e. Khawajah Syed Qutb ul-Din Maudood Chishti (d. 527 AH) At an early age, Maududi was given home education, he “received religious nurture at the hands of his father and from a variety of teachers employed by him.” He soon moved on to formal education, however, and completed his secondary education from Madrasah Furqaniyah. For his undergraduate studies he joined Darul Uloom, Hyderabad (India). His undergraduate studies, however, were disrupted by the illness and death of his father, and he completed his studies outside of the regular educational institutions. His instruction included very little of the subject matter of a modern school, such as European languages, like English.

Journalistic career

Famous Personalities

Chaudhary Rahmat Ali

Chaudhary Rahmat Ali (Urdu/Punjabi: چودھری رحمت علی) (or Rehmat Ali Khan; Urdu/Punjabi: رحمت علی خان) (November 16, 1897 – February 3, 1951) was an Indian Muslim nationalist who was one of the earliest proponents of the creation of the state of Pakistan. He is credited with creating the name “Pakistan” for a separate Muslim homeland on the Indian subcontinent.

Education and career
Rehmat Ali was born in the town of Balachaur in Hoshiarpur District of Punjab (now Nawanshahr District). After graduating from Islamia Madrassa Lahore in 1918, he taught at Aitchison College Lahore before continuing Law studies at Punjab University. In 1930 he moved to England to join Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1931. In 1933, he published a pamphlet, Now or Never, coining the word Pakistan for the first time. Subsequently, he obtained a BA degree in 1933 and MA in 1940 from University of Cambridge. In 1943, he was called to the Bar, Middle Temple Inn, London. Until 1947, he continued publishing various booklets about his vision of the subcontinent. The partition process disillusioned him due to the mass killings and mass migrations. He was also dissatisfied with the distribution of areas among the two countries and considered it a major reason for disturbances. He died on 3 February 1951 and was buried on 20 February at Newmarket Road Cemetery, Cambridge, UK.

Conception of ‘Pakistan’ There are several accounts to the conceptualising of the name. According to a friend (Abdul Kareem Jabbar) the name came up when Rehmat Ali was walking along the banks of the Thames in 1932 with his friends Pir Ahsan-ud-Din and Khawja Abdul Rahim. According to Rehmat Ali’s secretary Miss Frost, he came up with the idea of the name ‘Pakistan’ while riding on the top of a London bus. In the early 1930s, Ali began writing about the formation of a Muslim nation in India. On January 28, 1933, he voiced his ideas in the pamphlet entitled “Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever?”. The word ‘Pakstan’ referred to “the five Northern units of India, Viz: Punjab, (Afghanistan Province), Kashmir, Sind and Baluchistan “” . By the end of 1933, ‘Pakistan’ become common vocabulary where an i was added to ease pronunciation (as in Afghan-i-stan). In a subsequent book Rehmat Ali discussed the etymology in further detail. ‘Pakistan’ is both a Persian and an Urdu word. It is composed of letters taken from the names of all our Indian Sub-continent homelands; that is, Panjab, Afghanistan (Pashtunistan), Kashmir, Sindh (including Kach and Kathiawar), Tukharistan, Afghanistan, and Balochistan. It means the land of the Paks- the spiritually pure and clean. It symbolizes the religious beliefs and ethnical stocks of our people; and it stands for all the territorial constituents of our original Fatherland. It has no other origin and no other meaning; and it does not admit of any other interpretation. Those writers who have tried to interpret it in more than way have done so either through the love of casuistry, or through ignorance of its inspiration, origin and composition.

Philosophy Like Allama Iqbal, Ali believed that the Muslims of India had to undergo a reformation politically in order to remain a viable, and independent community there. Ali noted that Hazrat Muhammad had succeeded in uniting fractured Arab tribes and that this example was to again be used by Muslims of India to pool together in order to survive in what he perceived to be an increasingly hostile India. As such, Chaudhary Rahmat Ali’s writings, in addition to those of Iqbal and others were major catalysts for the formation of Pakistan. He offered “Bang-i-Islam” for a Muslim homeland in the Bengal, and “Usmanistan” for a Muslim homeland in the Deccan. He also suggested “Dinia” as a name for a subcontinent for various religions. Ali dedicated a lot of time and energy to the idea of Pakistan, and after its formation in 1947, he argued on its behalf at the United Nations over the issue of Kashmir.

Post-independence While Chaudhary Rahmat Ali was a leading figure for the conception of Pakistan, he lived most of his adult life in England. The Cambridge-based pamphleteer had been voicing his dissatisfaction with the creation of Pakistan ever since his arrival in Lahore on April 6 1948. He was unhappy over a Smaller Pakistan than the one he had conceived in his 1933 pamphlet Now Or Never.Consequently, Rahmat Ali died in 1951, buried in Cambridge City graveyard. 

Muhammad bin Qasim [695-715]

Muhammad bin Qasim was orphaned as a child and thus the responsibility of his upbringing fell upon his mother. She supervised his religious instruction herself, and hired different teachers for his worldly education. It was the uncle, Hajjaj bin Yousaf, who taught him the art of governing and warfare.
Qasim was an intelligent and cultured young man who at the age of fifteen was considered by many to be one of his uncle’s greatest assets. As a show of faith in his nephew’s abilities, Hajjaj married his daughter to Qasim. At the age of sixteen, he was asked to serve under the great general, Qutayba bin Muslim. Under his command Muhammad bin Qasim displayed a talent for skilful fighting and military planning. Hajjaj’s complete trust in Qasim’s abilities as a general became even more apparent when he appointed the young man as the commander of the all-important invasion on Sindh, when he was only seventeen years old. Muhammad bin Qasim proved Hajjaj right when he, without many problems, managed to win all his military campaigns. He used both his mind and military skills in capturing places like Daibul, Raor, Uch and Multan. History does not boast of many other commanders who managed such a great victory at such a young age.

Besides being a great general, Muhammad bin Qasim was also an excellent administrator. He established peace and order as well as a good administrative structure in the areas he conquered. He was a kind hearted and religious person. He had great respect for other religions. Hindu and Buddhist spiritual leaders were given stipends during his rule. The poor people of the land were greatly impressed by his policies and a number of them embraced Islam. Those who stuck to their old religions erected statues in his honor and started worshiping him after his departure from their land.
Muhammad bin Qasim was known for his obedience to the ruler. Walid bin Abdul Malik died and was succeeded by his younger brother Suleman as the Caliph. Suleman was an enemy of Hajjaj and thus ordered Qasim back to the kingdom. Qasim knew of the animosity between the two. He was aware that due to this enmity, he would not be well treated. He could have easily refused to obey the Caliph’s orders and declare his independence in Sindh. Yet he was of the view that obeying ones ruler is the duty of a general and thus he decided to go back to the center. Here he became a victim to party politics. He was put behind bars where he died at age of twenty. Many historians believe that had he been given a few more years, he would have conquered the entire South Asian region.

Famous Personalities

Muhammad Ali Jinnah 

Urdu: Hi-Muhammad_Ali_Jinnah.ogg (Urdu: محمد علی جناح) (December 25, 1876 – September 11, 1948), a 20th century politician and statesman, is generally regarded as the founder of Pakistan. He served as leader of The Muslim League and Pakistan’s first Governor-General.

He is officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam (Urdu: قائد اعظم — “Great Leader”) and Baba-e-Qaum (بابائے قوم) (“Father of the Nation”). His birthday is a national holiday in Pakistan. He has been equally admired by his opponents due to his visionary approach and use of constitutional and legal channels as a lawyer to bring about and end to British rule to India and creation of Pakistan.

Jinnah rose to prominence in the Indian National Congress expounding ideas of Hindu-Muslim unity and helping shape the 1916 Lucknow Pact with the Muslim League; he also became a key leader in the All India Home Rule League. After observing Congress’s injustice with Indian Muslims, Jinnah left Congress eventually. He proposed a fourteen-point constitutional reform plan to safeguard the political rights of Muslims in a self-governing India. Jinnah embraced the goal of creating a separate state for Muslims as per the Lahore Resolution. The League won most Muslim seats in the elections of 1946, and Jinnah launched the Direct Action campaign movement to achieve independence of Pakistan. The strong reaction of Congress supporters resulted in communal violence across South Asia. The failure of the Congress-League coalition to govern the country prompted both parties and the British to agree to independence of Pakistan and India. As the Governor-General of Pakistan, Jinnah led efforts to rehabilitate millions of refugees, and to frame national policies on foreign affairs, security and economic development. 

Muhammad Iqbal

Allama Sir Muhammad Iqbal (Urdu: محمد اقبال; November 9, 1877 – April 21, 1938) was a Muslim poet, philosopher and politician born in Sialkot, Pakistan, whose poetry in Urdu, Arabic and Persian is considered to be among the greatest of the modern era, and whose vision of an independent state for the Muslims of British India was to inspire the creation of Pakistan. He is commonly referred to as Allama Iqbal (علامہ اقبال‎, Allama meaning “Scholar”.)
After studying in England and Germany, Iqbal established a law practice, but concentrated primarily on writing scholarly works on politics, economics, history, philosophy and religion. He is best known for his poetic works, including Asrar-e-Khudi—which brought a knighthood— Rumuz-e-Bekhudi, and the Bang-e-Dara, with its enduring patriotic song Tarana-e-Hind. In India, he is regarding for the patriotic song, Saare Jahan Se Achcha. In Afghanistan and Iran, where he is known as Iqbāl-e Lāhorī (اقبال لاہوری‎ Iqbal of Lahore), he is highly regarded for his Persian works.
Iqbal was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual revival of Islamic civilisation across the world, but specifically in South Asia; a series of famous lectures he delivered to this effect were published as The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. One of the most prominent leaders of the All India Muslim League, Iqbal encouraged the creation of a “state in northwestern India for Muslims” in his 1930 presidential address. Iqbal encouraged and worked closely with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and he is known as Muffakir-e-Pakistan (“The Thinker of Pakistan”), Shair-e-Mashriq (“The Poet of the East”), and Hakeem-ul-Ummat (“The Sage of Ummah”). He is officially recognized as the national poet of Pakistan. The anniversary of his birth (یوم ولادت محمد اقبال‎ – Yōm-e Welādat-e Muḥammad Iqbāl) on November 9 is a national holiday in Pakistan.

Top 10 Richest People of Pakistan in 2013

Festivals

Festivals and fairs inject life and vigour in the lives of the people living anywhere in the world. Be it tomato throwing or racing in front of fuming bull, despite the danger the show goes on with lots of fun and laughter. Likewise, people in Pakistan have their own way of sharing love and joy.

Islamic Religious Festivals

Eid ul Fitr and Eid ul Azha are the two major religious festivities celebrated throughout the country among its Muslim populace.

• Thankfulness is one of the four qualities of a Muslim, others being truthfulness, modesty and good behaviour. Eid ul Fitr is the day of rejoicing and thanksgiving to Allah for giving the strength to the believers to fast for 29-30 days during the holy month of Ramadan.  The day is celebrated at the end of the Ramadan on the first of Shawal (the 10th month of Islamic calendar). In the evening of 29th Ramadan, all men and women alike flock on the rooftops to witness the new moon. No sooner it is sited, a euphoria sets in and everyone rushes to market places to make the last day shopping. Girls flock the stalls to get their hands beautiful decorated with “henna”. On Eid day, women folk prepare delicious sweet dishes tocelebrate the beginning of the day. Before going for the exclusive morning prayers, each head of the family is to give “fitrana” (alms) equal to 2 1/2 kilo of wheat in respect of each member of his family to the poor and needy so that they could also share the joy and happiness of the day. After the prayers children gather around the head of the family to receive “Eidi” – a sum of money as per the status and financial position of the head – a ritual in which everyone shares. A lot of fairs are organized for children while the elders call on to the relatives. More than men, women and children (specially girls) enjoy the festivities of the day by wearing colourful specially made-for-the-occasion clothes.