Majlis-e Ahrar-e Islam

Majlis-e Ahrar-e Islam (مجلس احرارلأسلام), also known in short as Ahrar, is a religious Muslim political party in the Indian subcontinent that was formed during the British Raj (prior to the Partition of India) on 29 December 1929 at Lahore.

The group became composed of Indian Muslims inspired by and supporting the Khilafat Movement, which cleaved closer to the Congress Party. The party was based in Punjab and gathered support from the urban lower-middle class. Chaudhry Afzal Haq, Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman Ludhianvi, and Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari were the leaders of the party.

Religious leaders from all sects Sunni Barelvi, Deobandi, Ahle Hadith, Shia Progressive and politically Communists were the members of Majlis-e-Ahrar. Chaudhry Afzal Haq, Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari, Habib-ur-Rehman Ludhianvi, Mazhar Ali Azhar, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan and Dawood Ghaznavi were the founders of the party. The Ahrar was composed of Indian Muslims disillusioned by the Khilafat Movement, which cleaved closer to the Congress Party.

The party, being a member of the All India Azad Muslim Conference, is associated with opposition to Muhammad Ali Jinnah and establishment of an independent Pakistan. Syed Faiz-ul Hassan Shah was the only ahrari leader who actively participated in the Pakistan independence movement.

After 1947, it separated into the Majlis-E-Ahrar Islam Hind (مجلس احرارلأسلام ہند), based in Ludhiana and was led by descendants of Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman Ludhianvi, as well as the Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam (مجلس احرارلأسلام اسلام), based in Lahore and was led by descendants of Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari.

Ideology and philosophy
Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam or simply called 'Ahrars' had an anti-imperialist, anti-feudal and Indian nationalist ideology. It worked to free India from the British rule. This party, before fading away, was highly active in Punjab Province (British India) and left an impact on major cities of Punjab like Amritsar, Lahore, Sialkot, Multan, Ludhiana and Gurdaspur.

The Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam, was originally part of the failed Khilafat movement and emerged as a religio-political party after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 and the disintegration of the Khilafat movement in 1922.

Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari presided over the meeting and Maulana Mazhar Ali Azhar delivered the manifesto of an All India Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam. It became first line offending party against Ahmadi Muslims by declaring that their objectives were to guide the Muslims of India on matters of nationalism as well as religion. Ahrar spearheaded the movement to have Ahmadi Muslims officially declared as non-Muslims.

By the early 1930s, the Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam (hereafter called Ahrars) had become an important political party of Muslims in the Punjab. The activists' agitation centered on the princely states, and was predicated on mobilisation around socio-religious issues. Besides these campaigns, the Ahrar also participated in the mainstream political developments of British India between 1931 and 1947. Its political career can be divided into two parts; the AHRAR's response to political and constitutional issues, and its performance in electoral politics.

The Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam stood strongly against the partition of India, with its leader Afzal Haq stating that the "Partition of India is, in fact, the cry of upper classes …. It is not a communal demand as some people think but a stunt in order that the poor classes may not concentrate their thought and energies on all important questions of social and economic justice." It was a member of the All India Azad Muslim Conference, which gathered to show support for a united India.

Activism in Pakistan
In November 2012, the Government of Pakistan banned Abdul Latif Khalid Cheema, leader of Tehreek-e-Khatme Nabuwwat and Secretary General of Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam, from delivering a speech in the Chichawatni and district Sahiwal area due to the security situation in Muharram.

The president of Majlis-e-Ahrar Syed Ata-ul-Muhaimin Bukhari was also banned from delivering any speeches for three months in Multan.

In Pakistan, the party opposed the Ahmadiyya Movement. This culminated in the 1953 Lahore riots; in 1954 Majlis-e-Ahrar was banned. The associated Islamist religious movement Tehreek-e-Khatme Nabuwwat remains.

List of party leaders

 * Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari, founder, 1st president
 * Chaudhry Afzal Haq, co-founder, 2nd president, Member of the Legislative Assembly, 1934–1942
 * Maulana Mazhar Ali Azhar, co-founder, secretary General, Member of the Legislative Assembly, 1934–1942
 * Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman Ludhianvi, third President, 1942–1944
 * Syed Muhammad Kafeel Bukhari, President
 * Professor Khalid Shabbir Ahmad, Vice president
 * Abdul Latif Khalid Cheema, Secretary General
 * Mian Muhammad Awais, Secretary Information
 * Master Taj-ud-Din Ansari
 * Sheikh Hissam-ud-Din
 * Agha Shorish Kashmiri
 * Janbaz Mirza, official Ahrar historian

Presidents

 * Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari, founder and first President, 1929–1930, 1946–1948
 * Chaudhry Afzal Haq, second President, 1931–1934 Member of the Legislative Assembly
 * Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman Ludhianvi, third President, 1935–1939
 * Sheikh Hissam-ud-Din, 1939–1940, 1942–1946, 1962–1966
 * Master Taj-ud-Din Ansari, 1948–1952
 * Ghulam Ghaus Hazarvi, 1958
 * Maulana Ubaid Ullah Ahrar, 1966–1974
 * Syed Abuzar Bukhari, 1975–1978, 1993–1994
 * Malik Abdul Ghafur Anwari, 1979–1980
 * Mirza Muhammad Hassan Chughtai, 1981–1992
 * Maulana Abdul Haq Chauhan, 1995–1997
 * Syed Ata-ul-Mohsin Bukhari, 1998–1999
 * Syed Ata-ul-Muhaimin Bukhari, President 1999-2021 president of Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam, Pakistan
 * Syed Muhammad Kafeel Bukhari, President 2021-present

Secretary Generals

 * Maulana Dawood Ghaznavi, founder, 1st Secretary General, 1929–1932
 * Maulana Mazhar Ali Azhar, founder, 2nd Secretary General, 1932–1933, 1933–1938, 1941–1945 Member of the Legislative Assembly
 * Agha Shorish Kashmiri, 1939–1940, 1945 secretary Ahrar Punjab
 * Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, 1946–1947
 * Sheikh Hissam-ud-Din, 1948–1953
 * Syed Abuzar Bukhari, 1962–1963, 1965–1973
 * Janbaz Mirza, 1964–1965
 * Chaudhry Sana Ullah Bhutta, 1973–1974
 * Syed Ata-ul-Mohsin Bukhari, 1975–1983, 1990–1995
 * Maulana Abdul Aleem Raipuri Shaheed, 1984–1986
 * Syed Ata-ul-Momin Bukhari, 1987–1989
 * Maulana Ishaq Saleemi, 1990–1995
 * Professor Khalid Shabbir Ahmad, 1998–2008
 * Abdul Latif Khalid Cheema, 2008–2011, 2012-today's Secretary General of Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam, Pakistan

Other

 * Janbaz Mirza, journalist
 * Muhammad Ismail Zabeeh, Secretary, Punjab, 1937
 * Syed Faiz-ul Hassan Shah, scholar
 * Haji Abdul Jabar Khan Abbottabad NWFP.