Arif Hussain Al Hussaini (Urdu:علامہ عارف حسين الحسينى; 25 November 1946 – 5 August 1988) was aTwelver ShīʿāMuslim scholar,Islamist ideologue,Islamic jurist, and Islamicrevolutionary political leader ofShia Muslims inPakistan. He is also known asKhomeini-e-Pakistan for his activities, which earned him the reputation of being one of the most prominent advocates for the Shia population ofPakistan andIslamic revival of theJa'farischool ofIslamic jurisprudence in the country. He condemned the ideas ofsecularism,liberalism andcommunism, which he understood to be the influence ofWestern and Soviet imperialism. He was assassinated in 1988 at aged 41.^[8][15]

Allama Syed Arif Hussain al-Hussaini was born on 25 November 1946 in the village ofPewar,Kurram,Parachinar into the house of Fazal Hussain Shah. His family belongs to theHusseini branch ofSyeds, which trace descent to the fourth Shi'a Imam,Zayn al-‘Ābidīn. The specific local branch name wasDuparzai. He was fluent inPashto,Dari,Urdu,Persian andArabic.

Hussaini received his primary education from his hometown state primary school and later went on toParachinar to complete his matriculation. Later, he was admitted to the Madrasa Jafria Parachinar from where he went to the Iraqi city ofNajaf for further studies. In Iraq, he studied under figures such as Aqai Lashkarani,Ayatollah Khomeini,Ayatollah Madani, Ayatollah Mortazavi, and Sheikh Ashraf Asphahani. In 1973, he returned home and married, and a year later went to the holy city ofQom, Iran to join the Hawza 'Ilmiyya. In 1975 and 1977, he performed theHajj.

After staying for a while in Parachinar Madrasa in 1967, Allama Arif ul Hussain al-Hussaini decided to further his religious studies and with his teacher Maulana Ghulam Hussain departed forNajaf where he metImam Khomeini and many Shia religious figures inIraq. “Madrasa Abdul Aziz Baghdadi" was where he began his early further Islamic education, then Hussaini was admitted to “Madrasa-e Shabbiriah." While Hussaini was studying in Najaf, Imam Khomeini also lived there in exile. Imam Khomeini used to leadmaghribayn prayers at the Madrasa ofAyatollah Burujerdi in Najaf at a time when very few of his followers used to pray behind him due to the surveillance of Saddam's regime. Hussaini was the only Pakistani who came every evening to pray behind him. Because of this attachment to Imam Khomeini he was ordered to leave Najaf by Iraqi authorities, but before Hussaini left Iraq Khomeini gave him hisWikalat Nama, (a letter issued by a Marja to a student to issue fatwas and collectkhums in his name).^[16]

Hussaini returned to Pakistan in 1977 to mobilize the Shia community. That year, he became the first person to recite amajlis in Pashto, which is unusual given that the vast majority ofPashtuns areSunni rather than Shia but indicates his stance as a strong promoter of Shia-Sunni unity. He also leveraged funding from the Shia Pakistani diaspora in the Persian Gulf to create the Alamdar Foundation in his hometown of Parachinar.^[17]

In a meeting of 28 people called inBhakkar,Punjab, Allama Syed Arif Hussain Al Hussaini was given the leadership ofTehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan (TJP), five months after the death of MuftiJafar Hussain on 10 February, 1984, in Bhakkar. An ideological split divided the movement into two groups: one headed byHamid Moosavi, the follower ofAyatollah Shariatmadari; the other headed by Hussaini, the follower ofKhomeini’s teachings. Under Hussaini, the party began to acceptSunni members, but it remained a Shia religious organisation.^[18] In 1986 Allama Syed Arif Hussain al-Hussaini and his party welcomedAyatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei to congratulate him on the success of Iran'sIslamic revolution during his three-day visit toPakistan. As leader ofTehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan (TJP), Allama Syed Arif Hussain Al Hussaini founded and revived many Pakistani Shia organizations, including schools and charities, and continued to advocate for Muslim unity throughout his life, uniting them under one banner. He also organized the Quran-O-Sunnat Conference in 1987 alongside Sunni Scholars to convey the message of Islamic unity and Iran'sIslamic revolution, It was attended by majority people of different sects from all over Pakistan.^[19] In 1988 following the assassination of Allama Syed Arif Hussain al- Hussaini theSupreme Council of Shiite clergy of Pakistan elected the AllamaSyed Sajid Ali Naqvi as the leader ofTehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan (TJP).^[20]

Allama Syed Arif Hussain al-Hussaini was assassinated inPeshawar on 5 August 1988 at the time ofFajr prayer. He was at the stairs of his seminary, coming down from his residence on the first floor, when two assailants opened fire on him. The assassins of Hussaini managed to escape but later twere reportedly arrested by the security forces. The attackers were allegedly affiliated withSipah-e-Sahaba, an anti-Shia organization in Pakistan.^[21] Hussaini died of his wounds while being transported by ambulance to a local hospital. Hussaini’s death sparked a riot by around 500 supporters who threw stones at cars and buses in the eastern city of Lahore before riot police dispersed them with tear gas.^[22]

His body was taken fromPeshawar to his native village ofPeiwar by helicopter. The formerPresident Zia-ul-Haq and special representatives of Imam Khomeini, Ayatullah Jannati,^[23] participated in his funeral rites. The Iranian government supported the construction of amazar over his grave in Peshawar.

It is alleged thatPresident Zia-ul-Haq was also involved in the assassination of Allama Syed Arif Hussain Al-Hussaini. Hussaini had been a staunch critic of the Zia regime and had opposed itsIslamization policies. He claimed that the so-called Islamization policies of Zia benefitted America and its allies instead of Islam and Pakistan, and believed that Zia's policies could foment a regional sectarian conflict in the future. Shortly after theCIA-ledOperation Cyclone, Hussaini openly voiced opposition to the Zia regime for supporting American-Israeli interference in the region and criticized theSoviet Union for destabilizing the region; however, he stated thatPakistan would continue to support theAfghan mujahideen against Soviet forces inAfghanistan without the help of America and its allies because he believed that Pakistan's collaboration with America and its allies was akin to betrayingPalestine and vowed to organize against Zia-ul-Haq and hismartial law. However, efforts to form a coalition against the regime were cut short by his assassination on 5 August 1988 at the hands of suspectedSipah-e-Sahaba assailants. Many of his colleagues believe that the Zia-ul-Haq government was also involved in the assassination of Hussaini, calling it a pre-planned murder because at that time Sipah-e-Sahaba was openly supported by the Zia regime.^[24][25] Scholars speculate that the popularity and influence of Allama Syed Arif Hussain al-Hussaini among Pakistani Muslims caused theZia regime andCIA to coordinate his assassination to prevent an Iran-styleIslamic Revolution, as he was commonly referred to as "Safeer-e-Inqilab-e-Islami" (ambassador ofIslamic Revolution) by his followers.^[26]

• Mufti Jafar Hussain
• Muhammad Hussain Najafi
• Muhammad Nawaz Irfani
• Sheikh Rajab Ali
• Sheikh Ali Madad
• Sheikh Fida Hussain Muzahiri

• Jafri, S.H.M (1979).Origins and Early Development of Shia Islam. London: Longman.
• Nasr, Seyyed Vali Reza (1996).Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-535711-0.

• Pakistani Shia clerics
• Pakistani Shia Muslims
• Pakistani Islamists
• Pashtun politicians
• People from Kurram District
• Shia Islamists
• Deaths by firearm in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• 1946 births
• 1988 deaths
• Islamic Dawa Party
• Assassinated Pakistani people

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• Articles containing Urdu-language text