Shaykh Ihsan Ilahi was a prominent Pakistani scholar who stood at the forefront of the intellectual campaign against deviant sects. Through thorough research and original scholarship, he exposed how far they had deviated from the path of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet, despite claiming Islam and masking their hypocrisy behind “dissimulation” (taqiyyah).
Born in Sialkot in 1363 AH, he had completely memorized the Quran by the age of nine. Raised in a family known for its adherence to Ahl al-Hadith, he completed his primary education in regular schools while simultaneously attending study circles with scholars in mosques to drink deeply from Islamic and legal sciences.
University and Academic Brilliance
- Bachelor’s Degree: Graduated first in his class with a Bachelor’s in Sharia from the Islamic University of Madinah in 1961 CE.
- Further Education: Returned to Pakistan and enrolled at the University of the Punjab (Faculty of Law and Political Science) while serving as the preacher at the largest Ahl al-Hadith mosque in Lahore.
- Master’s and Law Degrees: Earned six master’s degrees in Sharia, Arabic Language, Persian, Urdu, and Political Science from Punjab University, alongside a law degree from Karachi.
Positions, Roles, and Da’wah
- Served as President of the Academy of Islamic Research.
- Editor-in-Chief of Tarjuman al-Hadith magazine (published by the Ahl al-Hadith Association in Lahore) and managing editor of the Ahl al-Hadith weekly magazine.
- Dedicated his life to active da’wah upon returning home. When offered a position in Saudi Arabia, he declined, choosing to stay true to the verse: “And it is not for the believers to go forth [to battle] all at once. For there should separate from every division of them a group [remaining] that they may obtain understanding in religion and warn their people when they return to them that they might be cautious” (Quran 9:122).
Dr. Muhammad Luqman al-Salifii noted in Al-Dawah magazine that Ihsan Ilahi was an exceptionally brilliant student who memorized thousands of Hadiths. He would frequently sit on the gravel in the university courtyard before Sheikh Nasir al-Din al-Albani, discussing Hadith terminology and narrators, laying the foundation for a lifetime of defending the Sunnah with both pen and tongue.
Opposition to Deviation and Martyrdom
Because of his staunch Salafi creed, he was in constant intellectual conflict with deviant sects such as the Rafidah (Shiites), Ismailis, and Qadianis. He authored objective, meticulously researched works refuting their falsehoods.
Unable to counter his arguments intellectually, his adversaries resorted to a cowardly assassination. On 23 Rajab 1407 AH, while he was delivering a lecture at an Ahl al-Hadith seminar in Lahore, a bomb hidden inside a decorative vase exploded. It killed seven scholars instantly and injured Ihsan Ilahi severely.
By order of King Fahd bin Abdulaziz and at the suggestion of Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Baz, he was flown to Riyadh on a special military aircraft for treatment at the Military Hospital. He passed away on 1st of Sha’ban 1407 AH, and his body was flown to Madinah, where he was buried in Al-Baqi Cemetery near the companions of the Prophet.
Major Works and Publications
Sheikh Ihsan traveled globally—gathering sources from Spain, Britain, France, Iran, and Egypt—to write dozens of influential books, including:
- Al-Shi’ah wa’l-Sunnah (1393 AH)
- Al-Shi’ah wa Ahl al-Bayt (1403 AH)
- Al-Shi’ah wa’l-Tashayyu’: Firaq wa Tarikh
- Al-Isma’iliyyah: Tarikh wa Aqa’id (1405 AH)
- Al-Babiyyah: Arḍ wa Naqd
- Al-Qadiyaniyyah (1376 AH)
- Al-Barelviyyah: Aqa’id wa Tarikh (1403 AH)
- Al-Baha’iyyah: Naqd wa Tahlil (1975 CE)
- Al-Radd al-Kafi ‘ala Mughalatat Dr. Ali Abdul Wahid Wafi (1404 AH)
- Al-Tasawwuf: Al-Mansha’ wa’l-Masadir (Vol. 1, 1406 AH)
- Dirasat fi’l-Tasawwuf (Vol. 2)
- Al-Shi’ah wa’l-Quran (1403 AH)
- Al-Batiniyyah bi-Firaqiha al-Mashhurah
- Firaq Shibh al-Qarah al-Hindiyyah wa Mu’taqadatuha
- Al-Nasraniyyah
- Qadianism (in English)
- Al-Shi’ah wa’l-Sunnah (in Persian)
- Kitab al-Wasilah (in English and Urdu)
- Kitab al-Tawhid
- Al-Kufr wa’l-Islam (in Urdu)
- Editions of Al-Shi’ah wa’l-Sunnah in Persian, English, and Thai.
Source: Al-Jundi al-Muslim Magazine, published by the Saudi Ministry of Defense, Issue 105