Dr.

Mahmood Ahmad Ghazi

Dr. Ghazis father, Mr. Muhammad Ahmad migrated from india to karachi in 1954, sev en years after the creation of Pakistan. At Karachi, Ghazi attended Binnauri Tow n madrassa. Subsequently when his father shifted to Islamabad, Ghazi joined Madd rasa Talimul Quran in Raja Bazar, Rawalpindi. In 1969 he qualified Maulvi Fazal, and then did his M.A. in Islamiat. It seems that he received little education i n liberal and secular disciplines. In his youth, he had close contacts with Jama at Islami s student wing, the Islamee Jamiat Talaba and also with Tehrik Ahle Su nnat Wal Jamaat, another politico-religious party. He and his brother, Muhammad Gazali, were both anti-shia activists and were helped financially by tribal chie fs of Dera Ismail khan. Thereafter, Ghazi took up the anti-ahmadiyya cause also, and proceeded support t o Maulvis Ghulam Haider and Abdulla of Islamabadn in anti-Shia and Khatame Nabuw wat issues. Moulvi Ghulam Haider was later caught for his moral perversions, whi le Abdullah met a violent death. When Mulla Chinioti, the notorious MPA (Member Provincial Assembly) of the defunct Punjab Assembly, gained influence at Islamab ad, he developed friendly relations with Mr. Ghazi. However, the friendship did not last long. General Ziaul Haque developed a liking for Ghazi and appointed him his Arabic in terpreter. The new situation helped Ghazi promote his career and ideas. In 1984 he was member of a committee that recommended imposition of Death punishment for apostasy in Pakistan. In an article in the monthly Fikro Nazar (Vol: 1:20 Sr: 9 /10) he recommended that an Ombudsman should force people to offer Juma prayers under compulsion, and punish those who deviate from the standard form of prayers . Ghazi once wrote a thesis for his doctorate on Islamic Role of Shah Waliullah. O ne of the written comments on his thesis was: The author has tried to promote vio lence among sects. The thesis is an intellectual crime. The man is heartless. Acc ording to Abu Nasr, an Iranian research scholar, the thesis sanctioned genocide. Ghazi was not awarded a Ph.D. He, however, got it later on. Dr. Ghazi traveled as far as South Africa a few years ago to present himself in a case in which two Sunni ulema were interlocked in a legal battle in a dispute in which Ahmadiyyat was an important factor. Dr. Ghazi, appeared before the Supr eme Court of South Africa (Cape of Good Hope, Provincial Division) as an expert witness. Some comments of the Supreme Court on the personality and roll of Dr. G hazi are taken from its Decision on case No. 1438/86 - Muhammad Abbas Jaseem VS Sheikh Nazim Muhammad etc. - dated 23 February, 1990 and are produced below: Professor Mahmood Ahmad Ghazi comes from Pakistan. His CV Exhibit 291, looks impr essive. He was either a child prodigy or standards are lower in Pakistan than in the Western world. Since according to Exhibit 291 he acquired the equivalent of an MA degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the age of 16 and had been teachi ng and lecturing on and off since the age of 17... A good deal of what he said w as oratory rather than evidence. He concedes that he has strong anti-Ahmedi feelings - a concession it was necessa ry to extract from him since he seldom missed an opportunity of running Mirza do wn... How much of Dr. Ghazi s evidence was intended for the court and how much for the audience in court, invited by him to attend, is difficult to judge... His evidence was often illogical, inferences unjustified. Indeed, he appears to b e more interested in the political than the spiritual aspect of Islam. Ghazi has dual standards for apostasy and almost everything else, one for Mirza a nd one for others. Ghazi concedes that logic and wisdom may take second place or apparently have no part at all in interpreting the Quran by a most unscientific exercise he refers

to as the science of Tafsir. What follows (page 2831) reveals Ghazi a confused thinker, dictatorial and paying but lip service to the statement that Muslims are not expected to be slavish. Dr. Ghazi knows the art of political survival. During the tenure of Benazir Bhut to, Ghai used to write presentations for her political ally, Maulana Fazl-ur-Reh man of JUI. She appointed him member of the Islamic Ideology Council. Nawaz Shar if appointed him judge of the Shariat Appellate Court. Recently, Dr. Ghazi was a ctive against Mr. Meraj Khalid, the liberal and tolerant rector of International Islamic University, Islamabad. The new Government has appointed him Member of t he National Security Council for being a non controversial figure in the field of religion . Interesting!