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Azam Tariq (religious leader)

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Mawlānā
Azam Tariq
اعظم طارق
4th Chief of Sipah-e-Sahaba
In office
1997–2003
Preceded byZiya ur-Rahman Faruqi
Succeeded byAli Sher Hyderi
Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
In office
18 November 2002 – 6 October 2003
ConstituencyNA-115 (Jhang-II)
In office
16 October 1993 – 5 November 1996
ConstituencyNA-68 (Jhang-III)
In office
1991 – 18 July 1993
ConstituencyNA-68 (Jhang-III)
Personal details
BornAzam Tariq Manj
(1962-07-10)10 July 1962
Chichawatni, West Pakistan, Pakistan
Died6 October 2003(2003-10-06) (aged 41)
Islamabad, Pakistan
Cause of deathAssassination by gunshots
Party Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan
ChildrenMuawiya Azam
Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia
OccupationPolitician, cleric

Azam Tariq Manj[a] (10 July 1962 – 6 October 2003) was a Pakistani Islamic cleric and politician who served as the fourth supreme of the Sipah-e-Sahaba from 1997 until his assassination in 2003. He also served as National Assembly of Pakistan from 1991 to 1996 and from 2002 to 2003.

Tariq became the head of Sipah-e-Sahaba upon the death of Ziya ur-Rahman Faruqi in a February 1997 attack.[1] He was a co-founder of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council.[2][3]

On 06 October 2003, Tariq was assassinated by unknown assailants as he left the M-2 Motorway to enter the Islamabad.[4][3]

Early life and education

Azam Tariq Manj was born on 10 July 1962 in Chichawatni, West Pakistan into a Punjabi Rajput family belonging to the Manj tribe. His father was also a religious cleric named Muhammad Fatih Manj. The family's roots lying in the Kalyan village of the Patiala district, now in Indian Punjab, from where they moved due to the partition of India in 1947.[5]

He studied at a local madrassa and then enrolled in the Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia in Banuri Town, Karachi.[1] Like most madrassa students and graduates at that time, he participated in the Soviet-Afghan jihad, and when he returned, while he was the imam of the Masjid-e-Siddiq-e-Akbar in North Karachi he formed the basis of the future SSP.[6]

First arrest and assassination attempt

Tariq was arrested and jailed on 20 November 1995 alongside Zia-ur-Rehman Farooqi by the Government of Pakistan for anti-Shia activities and in February 1997 during the appearance of both of them due to poor security measures an explosion took place in Lahore sessions court in which the Tariq was seriously injured meanwhile Farooqi was killed in this explosion, Sipah-e-Sahaba accused Sipah-e-Muhammad for the explosion and blamed it for assassination of Farooqi.[7]

Following the killing of Farooqi the organization appointed Tariq as the new chief.[8]

Second Arrest

In August 2001, Tariq was again arrested and jailed on the charges of terrorism and was released in November 2002.[1]

Political career

Tariq was elected three times to the National Assembly of Pakistan in Jhang, even though his constituency was a predominantly Shi'a region.[8]

He contested again in the 2002 elections while in custody and was again elected. He was released in November 2002.[9]

Views

Azam Tariq was accused of disseminating religious animosity, Tariq was also listed on Pakistan's terrorism watch for his involvement in the Sectarian violence in Pakistan against Shia Muslim community and non-Deobandi Sunnis like Sufi Barelvi sect of Sunni Islam. He once said "If Islam is to be established in Pakistan then Shi'a must be declared infidels,".[10]

His aim was to transform Pakistan into a Sunni Deobandi Islamic state governed by strict Sharia Law through an political struggle where Shias and non-Deobandi Sunnis must be declared as the heretical and infidels or just considered to be hypocrites or munafaqeen like Ahemadis.[10]

Assassination

Tariq was shot and assassinated in an attack on 6 October 2003 alongside Islamabad by Sipah-e-Muhammad militants.[4] as he was driving along the Srinagar Highway.[3] his funeral was led by Abdul Rashid Ghazi inside Lal Masjid.[11]

The assassination was part of a growing wave of violent incidents in Pakistan between the sectarian Sunni Deobandi Muslims and the Shias. Violence peaked in July 2003 with the Quetta mosque attack and the massacre of more than 50 people.[12]

On 11 May 2017, 13 years after Tariq's assassination, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested a suspect in his murder.[13]

Personal life

Azam Tariq had a son named Muawiya Azam, who is one of the main political leaders of the Sipah-e-Sahaba today.[14]

Bibliography

Books by Tariq

  • Rūdād-i ʻIshq O Vafā, Jhang : Markazī Daftar-i Sipāh-i Ṣaḥābah, 1999-2004, around 1000 pages (in 2 volumes). Author's memoirs.
  • Ahammīyat-i Hadīs̲ Dar Dīn, Kābul : Mayvand; Peshawar : Kitābkhānah-ʼi Sabā, 2005, 298 p. Importance of Hadith for Islam, in Persian.
  • K̲h̲ut̤bāt-i Jarnail, al-Maʻrūf, K̲h̲ut̤bāt-i Jel, Jhang : Markazī Daftar-i Sipāh-i Ṣaḥābah, 2001. Collection of speeches written in jail (1998-1999) collected by Abū Usāmah Z̤iyāurraḥmān Nāṣir.

Books about Tariq

  • Muḥammad Nadīm Qāsimī, Ḥayāt-i Aʻẓam T̤āriq, Faiṣalābād : Ishāʻatulmaʻārif, 1998, 413 p.
  • Muḥammad Nadīm Muʻāviyah, Pārlīmanṭ Kā Londa : S̲ānī-i Jarnail-i Sipāh-yi Ṣaḥābah ... Ḥaz̤rat Maulānā Muḥammad Aʻẓam T̤āriq Shahīd Ke Mufaṣṣal Hālāt-i Zindagī Aur Pārlīmant Kī Taqārīr, Karāchī : Maktabah-yi K̲h̲ilāfat-i Rāshidah, 2005, 376 p.

See more

Notes

  1. Urdu: اعظم طارق منج

References

  1. "In Death, as in Life".
  2. Ahutosh Misra, "Rise of Religious Parties in Pakistan," Strategic Analysis p186 (2003)
  3. "Azam Tariq gunned down in Islamabad". Dawn.com. 7 October 2003. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  4. "The Hammer Poised to Strike in Pakistan". archive.democrats.com. 10 October 2003. Retrieved 8 May 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  5. Alam, Iftikhar (22 May 2022). "A developing scenario for banned SSP politics in Jhang". Minute Mirror. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Belonging to Rajput clan, late Tariq's family migrated in 1947 from Kalyan village, then part of the Patiala State and now falls in Punjab India, and settled in Chak No 111/7R of Chichawatni tehsil of district Sahiwal.
  6. Tohid, Owais. "In Death, as in Life". NewsLine Magazine.
  7. Pentagon's South Asia Defence and Strategic Year Book. Panchsheel. 2010. p. 357. ISBN 978-81-8274-444-8. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018.
  8. "Pakistan's Sunni-Shia Rift | MEO". Archived from the original on 15 December 2019.
  9. "Pakistan's Sunni-Shia Rift | MEO". Archived from the original on 15 December 2019.
  10. "List of Incidents involving Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Terrorist Group of Pakistan". South Asia Terrorism Portal website. Archived from the original on 24 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  11. "Azam Tariq's murder could have huge repercussions". gulfnews.com. 7 October 2003. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  12. Imtiaz Gul (8 October 2003). "Cleric murder highlights sectarianism". Aljazeera.com. Retrieved 8 May 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  13. Altaf, Arsalan; Tanoli, Qadeer (11 May 2017). "Former ASWJ leader Maulana Azam Tariq's suspected murderer arrested from Islamabad airport". The Express Tribune.
  14. "LHC orders release of Azam Tariq's son". The Nation. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2026.