Religion
As an active member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Zafarullah Khan held the office of president of the Lahore, Pakistan chapter of the community from 1919 to 1935. He served as Secretary to Khalifatul Masih II, the second successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, at Majlis-e-Shura for the first time in 1924, continuing for seventeen more sessions. In addition, he was a member of the delegation which represented the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community at the All Parties Conference held in 1924. In 1927, he acted successfully as representative counsel for the Muslims of the Punjab in the contempt of court case against the Muslim Outlook.
As Pakistan's first Foreign Minister, Zafarullah Khan addressed the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan in the days leading up to passing of the Objectives Resolution. The Objectives Resolution, which combined features of both Western and Islamic democracy, is one of the most important documents in the constitutional history of Pakistan. It was designed to provide equal rights for all citizens of Pakistan, regardless of race, religion or background. Zafarullah Khan was quoted saying:
It is a matter of great sorrow that, mainly through mistaken notions of zeal, the Muslims have during the period of decline earned for themselves an unenviable reputation for intolerance. But that is not the fault of Islam. Islam has from the beginning proclaimed and inculcated the widest tolerance. For instance, so far as freedom of conscience is concerned the Quran says "There shall be no compulsion" of faith...
— Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, Addressing the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, c. 1949
In March 1958, Zafarullah Khan performed Umrah while at the same time, visited the shrine of Muhammad in Medina, Saudi Arabia. During his visit, he met with the King of Saudi Arabia Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia, staying in the Royal Palace as the King's personal guest. In 1967, Zafarullah Khan returned to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in a lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so.
Read more about this topic: Muhammad Zafarullah Khan
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“In the latter part of the seventeenth century, according to the historian of Dunstable, “Towns were directed to erect ‘a cage’ near the meeting-house, and in this all offenders against the sanctity of the Sabbath were confined.” Society has relaxed a little from its strictness, one would say, but I presume that there is not less religion than formerly. If the ligature is found to be loosened in one part, it is only drawn the tighter in another.”
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