The great Chancellor of Jamia Ashrafia, Maulana Hafiz Fazlur Rahim Ashrafi, died on January 4, 2026, marking the end of a painful year of sickness and a sorrowful beginning to the new year for millions of his followers. The Mohtamim (administrator) of Jamia Ashrafia passed away after a prolonged illness, leaving the religious and academic community in deep mourning.
Maulana Ashrafi was not only a teacher but also the Sheikh al-Hadith at one of South Asia’s most prestigious seminaries, and as the son of Jamia Ashrafia’s founder, Mufti Muhammad Hassan, he continued a heritage of moderate and academic leadership in Islam. He dedicated his entire life to teaching the Quran and Sunnah and promoting religious values, widely regarded as a distinguished Hadith scholar and compassionate spiritual guide whose services shaped generations of students.
The funeral prayer took place on January 5, 2026, at Jamia Ashrafia, Ferozepur Road, where thousands of students, scholars, and citizens gathered after the Zuhr prayer to pay their final respects, followed by burial in his family’s ancestral graveyard in Lahore.
National leaders expressed profound grief over the loss. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the deceased was a great religious scholar whose lifelong services to Islamic education would always be remembered, while Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. Stability Pakistan Party President Abdul Aleem Khan stated that the candle of knowledge lit by Maulana Fazlur Rahim Ashrafi would always remain bright.
Religious scholar Mufti Muhammad Zubair described his death as an irreparable loss to the academic and spiritual world, noting that Maulana Ashrafi was a compassionate, kind-hearted and warm personality who left a deep impact on all who knew him Recipe52. His legacy of knowledge, spiritual guidance, and moral training will continue to inspire future generations of Islamic scholars across Pakistan and beyond.
