Arif Hussain al-Hussaini was born on 25 November 1946 in the village of Pewar, Kurram, Parachinar into the house of Fazal Hussain Shah. His family belongs to the Husseini branch of Syeds, which trace descent to the fourth Shi'a imam, Zayn al-‘Ābidīn. The specific local branch name was Duparzai. He was Fluent in Pashto, Dari, Urdu, Persian and Arabic.
Education
Hussaini received his primary education from his home town government primary school and later went on to Parachinar to complete his matriculation. Later, he got an admission into the Madressa Jafria Parachinar from where he went to the Iraqi city of Najaf 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 of Qom, Iran to join the Hauza Ilmia. In 1975 and 1977, he performed the Hajj.
Return to Pakistan
Hussaini returned to Pakistan in 1977 to mobilize the Shia community. In the same year, he became the first person to recite a majlis in Pashto, which is unusual given that the vast majority of Pashtuns are Sunni rather than Shia. He also leveraged funding from the Shia Pakistani diaspora in the Persian Gulf to create the Alamdar Foundation in his hometown of Parachinar.[7]
Leadership of Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan
In a meeting of 28 people called in Bhakkar, Punjab, Hussaini was given the leadership of Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan by the recommendation of Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Hussain Najafi, after five months the death of Mufti Jafar Hussain on 10 February, 1984, in Bhakkar. An ideological split divided the movement into two groups: one headed by Hamid Moosavi, the follower of Ayatollah Shariatmadari; the other headed by Hussaini, the follower of Khomeini’s teachings. Under Hussaini, the party began to accept Sunni members, but it remained a religious organisation.[8]
Assassination
Hussaini died in Peshawar on 5 August, 1988. He was at the stairs of his seminary, coming down from his residence at first floor, when two assailants opened fire on him. The assailants of Hussaini escaped but were later arrested. The attackers were allegedly affiliated with Sipah-e-Sahaba, an anti-Shia organization in Pakistan.[9] It is also alleged that Zia-ul-Haq was also involved in the assassination of Hussaini. 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.[10]
His body was taken from Peshawar to his native village of Peiwar by helicopter. The former President Zia-ul-Haq and special representatives of Imam Khomeini, Ayatullah Jannati,[11] participated in his funeral rites. The Iranian government supported the construction of a mazar over his grave in Peshawar.
