Former Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan chief and veteran politician Qazi Hussain Ahmed passed away in a hospital in Islamabad at 01:40am Pakistan Standard Time 6 January following a heart attack. He was 74. A prominent religious scholar and Islamic theologian, Qazi Hussain Ahmed was the head of the organisation for about 22 years, and had decided to step down from his post in 2009. He was a strong critic of counter-terrorism policy of the United States, and was widely known for his opposition against United States participation in civil war in the neighbouring Afghanistan.
His body was shifted to his native town Peshawar, where his funeral prayers were led by JI Chief Syed Munawar Hassan and were attended by several political leaders including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Chief Fazlur Rehman, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Central President Javed Hashmi and Maulana Samiul Haq. His body was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard at Nowshera.