Hafiz Zubair Alizai Rahimahullah

Al-Hafiz Abi-Muaz Zubair bin Mujaddad Alizai (Rahimahullah) was born on June 25, 1957 A.D (Zul Qada 27th, 1376 Hijri) in the small village of Pirdad in Punjab, Pakistan.

His ancestors hailed from Ghazni, Afghanistan, and belonged to the renowned Pashtun tribe Alizai — from which he acquired his surname.

In 1982, he entered into marriage and was blessed by Allah (S.W.T) with three sons and four daughters. His sons Abdullah Saqib and Muaz Bin Zubair have memorized the entire Quran and are actively publishing their father's work online through the IshaatulHadith Android app.

Lineage: Abu Tahir & Abu Muaz Muhammad Zubair, known as Hafiz Zubair Alizai, son of Mujaddad Khan, son of Dost Muhammad Khan, son of Jahangir Khan, son of Ameer Khan, son of Shahbaz Khan, son of Karam Khan, son of Gul Muhammad Khan, son of Peer Muhammad Khan, son of Azad Khan, son of Allah Dad Khan, son of Umar Khan, son of Khawaja Muhammad Khan — Alizai, Afghan by origin, Pakistani.

Creed & methodology: Salafi, Athari — of Ahl al-Hadith, i.e. Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah. Walhamdulillah.

Death: He passed away on 10 November 2013 at Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.

Shaykh Zubair Alizai received his primary education in his paternal village, which has since grown into a town. He graduated from Jamia Muhammadiyya (G.T. Road, Gujranwala) and Wifaq al-Madaris al-Salafiyya (Faisalabad), and earned Master's degrees in Arabic and in Islamic Studies from the University of the Punjab, Lahore.

At around 15 or 16, his paternal uncle gifted him a copy of Sahih al-Bukhari — his first step on the path of Islamic knowledge.

He had the privilege of learning from some of the most esteemed scholars of his era — teachers he always mentioned with the utmost respect and gratitude.

He held an ijazah (licence to narrate) from these teachers, and benefited most from Shaykh Abu al-Rijal, Hafiz Abdul Hameed Azhar and Shaykh Badee ud-Deen Rashidi as-Sindhi (Rahimahumullah).

He wrote and researched over 120 books, with approximately half of them yet to be published. He made significant contributions to the research on the Sunan Arba'a (the four major Hadith collections). He was a master of 'Ilm Asma' al-Rijal (the science of narrators) — a Hafiz of the Qur'an and, without doubt, a Hafiz of Hadith as well.

Among the works he authenticated and annotated (tahqeeq & takhreej):

• Sunan Abi Dawood
• Jami' al-Tirmidhi
• Sunan al-Nasa'i
• Sunan Ibn Majah
• Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah
• Mishkat al-Masabih
• Muwatta Imam Malik (Yahya & Ibn al-Qasim)
• Musnad al-Humaydi
• Tafsir Ibn Kathir
• Seerat Ibn Hisham
• Al-Fitan wal-Malahim
• Athar al-Sunan (al-Nimawi)
• Tabaqat al-Mudallisin (Ibn Hajar)
• Kitab al-Du'afa (al-Bukhari)
• Ithbat 'Adhab al-Qabr (al-Bayhaqi)

His mother tongue was Hindko; he learned Pashto after 1990. He especially loved two languages — Arabic and Pashto — and spoke both with exceptional mastery and fluency.