Shams-ud-din Harifal

A main crossroads in Zhob was renamed "Maulana Shams-ud-din Shaheed Chowk" in 2012 by the people of Zhob.

In the first week of March 1974, Shams-ud-din left Zhob for Quetta, and along with Muhammad Zaman Khan Achakzai (Provincial General Secretary of the JUI) called on the governor of Balochistan, Khan of Kalat Mir Ahmed Yar Khan, and conveyed him the message of Darkhawasti, and reminded him his commitment for implementing Islamic laws. The governor replied positively, stating, "we seek your cooperation".

On 10 March 1974, Shams-ud-din addressed his last gathering near the vegetable market in Rahimyarkhan, Punjab Pakistan. Later that same day he left for Sibi and stayed overnight.

On 13 March 1974, Shams-ud-din was driving home to Zhob along with one of his friends. On the way to Zhob, Shams-ud-din stopped in Akhterzai for his noon prayers. After prayers were over, Shams-ud-din resumed the drive. Thirty-five kilometers from Akhterzai, near a village called "Khulgai" (Killa Saifullah District), where his friend shot him thrice in the head from behind the driver's seat.

The next day, 14 March 1974, he was laid to rest at Zhob graveyard. At 29 years old, Shams-ud-din was survived by his widow and a daughter, his parents, and his brothers.

It was a coalition government of NAP and JUI. Shams-ud-din was the youngest member of the assembly at age 28. Unfortunately, the assembly only lasted for ten months, before the Federal Government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto dismissed the Provincial Government of Balochistan on 13 February 1973.

On 15 July 1973, Shams-ud-din held a rally in Zarif Sheed Park, Zhob. He delivered a speech against the dissemination of tampered Qurans and literature in his native city, allegedly by Ahmadis. Tampering news inflamed the emotions of the people, which lead to riots and lynchings.

Between 17 and 18 July 1973, Shams-ud-din's Zhob residence was cordoned off by a heavy contingent of Frontier Corps, who arrested him. The next morning, news of his arrest spread through the city, and tribesmen from all around blocked the outgoing roads to prevent him from being taken away. As the public protest grew out of control, authorities took him away by helicopter. This only further inflamed unrest all over the country.

A writ petition of habeas corpus was filed in Sindh-Balochistan High Court, Karachi, challenging his illegal confinement and petitioning for his release, on the premise that the prisoner had been detained incommunicado. Shams-ud-din was released on 18 August 1973. He received a grand reception when he returned to Zhob.

On 2 May 1972, chairman Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai opened the first session of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan, in the town hall, Quetta. During this session, Nawab Muhammad Khan Barozai of the National Awami Party (NAP) was elected as Speaker of Assembly. The very next day, 3 May 1972, Shams-ud-din was unanimously elected Deputy Speaker. (Ataullah Mengal had already been elected on 1 May as chief Minister.)

During the general election of 1970, Shams-ud-din participated and contested the election at PB 10, Fort Sandeman (as Zhob was then known), on the platform of his political party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. He came in first in the election with 7,578 votes, more than double the total of the second-place finisher, Nawabzada Taimur Shah Jogezai, of the Muslim League (Qayyam), who received 3,726 Votes.

He matriculated from a government high school in Zhob in 1960. He then attended a madrassa boarding school in Akora Khattak, Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa. He stayed there for two years and continued his education under the guidance of Abdul Haq (father of Sami-ul-Haq, the chief of the JUI). He then attended the Madrasa Arabia New Town Karachi, where he studied under Muhammad Yousuf Binori for two consecutive years.

Shams-ud-din Harifal (Urdu: مولانا شمس الدین حریفال) was an (4 May 1944 - 14 March 1974) was an Islamic Sunni Hanafi scholar of the Deobandi school of thought and political leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and Tehreek-e-Khatme-e-Nubuwwat. According to his biographer, Shams-ud-din's major contribution was his support of strong anti-Ahmadiyya feelings among Muslims at the risk and sacrifice of his life.

He was born on 4 May 1944 (21 Jumada al-awwal 1364 AH) in Balkh Province of Afghanistan to a family of religious scholars. His father Muhammad Zahid Harifal was a sufi theologian. He was the founder and teacher of the Madrasa Shams-uloom at Fort Sandeman in Zhob.