Maulana Fazlur Rehman is one of the most intriguing personalities in the realm of Pakistani politics.

Born in Dera Ismail Khan in 1953, Fazl took over the reins of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) in 1980 at the age of 27 when his father passed away. The party then split into two in the mid-80s — the JUI-F, led by Fazl, and the JUI-S, led by Samiul Haq — over whether to join Ziaul Haq’s government and also allegedly over personal differences. Like his father, Fazl draws his support from followers of the Deobandi school of thought which is part and parcel of JUI-F’s ideology.

Fazl, thanks to his father’s legacy, emerged as the leader of the more powerful faction. Although the party claims to hold intra-party elections every three years, he has been its head since 1980.

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