Zahir Qasmi

Zahir Qasmi had a very unique honour for Qur’an recitation. On August 14/15 1947, day of independence of Pakistan, Qari Zahir Qasmi recited on Radio Pakistan for the country.[3][2] He also established a Qira’at Institution in early 50’s in Pakistan called “Darul-Quran, Jamia Qasima” in lazvella, Karachi.[4] In 1966/1967, Qari Zahir Qasmi was the secretary general of the International Qur'an Recitation Association and he attended both international Qira'at conferences.[4] He had gained a lot of popularity in the late 1970s, and the early 1980s. Qari Zahir Qasmi died on September 4, 1988 in the state of Virginia (United States).[5]

There is a 'Qari Zahir Qasmi Road' in Karachi, Pakistan named after him.[6]

From the Dawn newspaper's archives 50 years ago, "On June 11, 1970 it was reported that the Mohajir representatives of Karachi had decided to form a political party – the Pakistan Mohajir Front... The meeting also decided to make Maulana Zahir Qasmi its convener, and to appoint a committee consisting of Maulana Qasmi, Hamid Husain Farooqui (advocate), Ziaul Hasan Chishti (advocate), Dr Safdar Farooqui, M. Ghulam Murtaza and SM Sohail to prepare the constitution of the party".[1]

Above quote from the Dawn newspaper archives makes it obvious that Zahir Qasmi was highly active politically and socially in Karachi more than 50 years ago.[1]

• Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) Award by the Government of Pakistan
• Pride of Performance Award by the President of Pakistan

• Nihal Ahmad (2005). A History of Radio Pakistan. p. 58. ISBN 9780195978704. A History of Radio Pakistan on GoogleBooks
• http://www.iqrabd.org/update/