Who was Maulana Sami-ul-Haq and What was his role in Pakistan's politics?

Maulana Sami-ul-Haq was known as the father of the Afghan Taliban. He was born on 18 December 1937 in Akora Khattak, Khyber Pakhtoon Kha. He got his education from Darul Uloom Haqqania, which was founded by his father Maulana Abdul Haq. There he learned fiqa, usul al-Fiqah, Arabic literature, logic, Arabic grammar, Tafsir, and Hadith. As well as getting over the Arabic language, he also used to speak in Pakistan's national language Urdu and regional language Pashto.

Relations with Taliban

Maulana Sami ul Haq had very closer ties with the Afghan Taliban because he was the chancellor of the Darul Uloom Haqqania at the time when the Taliban got an education there. He also had very close ties to Mullah Omar. Due to his close ties with the Taliban, he played very important role in the current dialog between Taliban and American forces. He also said that the US Ambassador to Pakistan, Richard G. Olson, visited him in July 2013 to discuss the situation of the region. He also claimed that the Taliban will make whole Afghanistan happy within one year if Foreign forces leave Afghanistan otherwise Taliban will continue fighting until their freedom.

Role in Politics

Maulana Sami ul Haq also had a very significant role in the Pakistani politics. He formed his own political party named JUI-S, which was JUI before being divided into two factions JUI-F(Fazlur Rehman group) and JUI-S(Sami ul Haq group). He had also served as a member of the Senate of Pakistan many times. He was also a founding member of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, which is an alliance of different Islamic parties contesting election in Pakistan. In 2013, he made an alliance of different small religious-political parties to contest election. In the 2018 election he supported Imran Khan, who is now Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Scandal

During his life he was allegedly involved in a scandal. A woman known as Madam Tahira who ran a brothel in Islamabad arrested by the Police in November 1991. During investigations she alleged that her most frequent customers were many lawmakers, including Maulana Sami ul Haq. Maulana Sami ul Haq denied all the allegations and said "he is being framed by the government agencies for opposing Official policies" and later resigned from the office. Later, these allegations were taken back by the Madam Tahira.

Fatwa for Polio

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan banned polio vaccinations by declaring it un-Islamic and forced people to stop inoculating their children. Then Maulana Sami ul Haq issued a Fatwa in the favor of Polio Vaccinations on 9 December 2013. The fatwa said "vaccination against deadly diseases is helpful in their prevention according to research conducted by renowned medical specialists. It adds that the vaccines used against these diseases are in no way harmful".

On November 2, 2018, Maulana Sami ul Haq was assassinated by unknown men when he was resting in his home in Rawalpindi. The Killer stabbed him multiple times until he succumbed to his injuries. Many political figures condemned his killing. May his soul rest in peace.