Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi
Allama Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi, a renowned religious scholar and founder of the religious and political party Tehreek-e-Labeek-e-Pakistan, died in Lahore on Thursday at the age of 55. He had been suffering from fever for a few days. Doctors said the cause of death was a heart attack. The Prime Minister and the Army Chief have expressed their condolences over his death. Funeral prayers were offered today (Saturday) at the premises of Minar-e-Pakistan. Maulana hailed from the Attock district while teaching at Jamia Nizamia Rizvia, Lahore, and for some time was associated with the teaching department there. In modern times, he was the domineering and powerful voice of the Barelvi school of Ahl-e-Sunnah wa Jamaat. He was not only a memorizer of the Qur’an and Hadith but also a memorizer of the words of Imam Ahmad Raza Khan and Allama Iqbal. He was a staunch supporter of the Namoos-e-Risalat and preferred to call himself the guardian of the honor of the Prophet (PBUH). After termination of employment in the Endowment Department, he founded Tehreek-e-Labeek or Rasool-Allah in September 2017. In the by-election of the NA-120 constituency, he surprised everyone by getting 7,000 votes. In the 2018 elections, his party emerged as the fifth largest party in Pakistan in terms of votes.
Despite being confined to a wheelchair, he has always been active in spreading his ideas. After the execution of Mumtaz Qadri in 2017 and then in November 2020, after the blasphemous audacity of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) on behalf of France, they staged a sit-in in Faizabad. Until the end, he continued to perform the duties of Immamat and oratory at Jamia Masjid Rehmat-ul-Alameen in Lahore for Rs. 15,000 per month and lived in a house of one and a half marlas. The high council of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) appointed Khadim Hussain Rizvi’s son as the new chief of the party. Saad Rizvi, who had till now served as the deputy secretary-general of the TLP, was nominated to succeed his father by the party leadership.
The announcement about the new head was made at Minar-e-Pakistan where thousands of Khadim Rizvi’s followers and supporters had gathered to offer his funeral prayers. We are equally involved in the sorrows of his family, disciples, and loved ones.