Tehrik-e-Islami
Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan (TJP)

Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan (TJP) is a Shia political party, also known as the Tehrik-e-Islami. It was formed in 1979 under the name Tehrik-e-Nafaz-e-Fiqah-e-Jafaria [TNFJ] to introduce Fiqhe Jaffriah [the Shiah legal system] as the personal law for the Shiah of Pakistan so that no other Sunii Fiqha (school of thought) would be imposed on them to follow. The Islamic revolution in Shia Iran around the same time gave an added boost to the organization. The main objective of this party is to create an Islamic rule in the country according to the wishes of all factions of Islamic society of Pakistan.

Founded by Shi'ite leader Allama Mufti Jaffar Hussain, Tehrik-e-Nafaz-e-Fiqah-e-Jafaria later split into two groups. One group, headed by Allama Hamid Ali Moosavi, retained the original name Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqh-e-Jafaria. The second was headed by Allama Arif Hussain Hussaini (the banned Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan TJP). Allama Arif Hussain Hussaini was assassinated in 1988 by the regime of Zia ul-Haqe, and then (TJP) was led by Allama Sajid Ali Naqvi.

Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan (TJP) was banned two times by President Pervez Musharraf's government. In January 2002 President Musharraf arrested leaders of banned terrorist groups, but their subsequent release, and the continued operation of these groups under new names did not place effective curbs on the operation of these groups and connected individuals. By early 2003 virtually all the groups supposedly banned by Pakistan as terrorist organisations were allowed to function with impunity under new names. Thus, for example, the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operated as the 'Pasban-e-Ahle-Hadith'; the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) is 'Al Furqan'; the Markaz-ad-Dawa-wal-Irsahd is 'Jamaat-ad-Dawa'; the Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan (TJP) is the 'Tehrik-e-Islami'.

In November 2003 Pakistan cracked down on four religious groups accused of having links to terrorism. The groups had earlier been banned and reorganized under new names. Lashkar-e Taiba and the Jaish-e Mohammed, had been named as terrorist organizations by the U.S. State Department. Qazi Hussein Ahmed, a senior member of Parliament and the leader of Jamaat-e Islami, Pakistan's oldest religious party, says the banned groups have no ties to militants. He notes that one organization is part of the Muttahida Majlis-e Amal, the major opposition alliance of religious parties, which also includes Mr. Ahmed's group. "As far as Tehrik-e Islami is concerned," said Mr. Ahmed, "it is a part of MMA, and it is a political organization, it is not a militant organization."

It was part of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal coalition of Islamist political parties that won 11.3 of the popular vote and 53 out of 272 elected members in the legislative elections held on 20 October 2002. The party has always emphasized on the unity between Muslims. In May 2008 it was reported that Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmed was considering heading the six-party Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that he would consider rejoining MMA after consulting with the executive council of his party and some other seniors. Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman had tasked Mir and Allama Sajid Naqvi of Tehreek-e-Jafria Pakistan (TJP) with contacting Qazi Hussain Ahmed and bringing him round to rejoining the alliance.

The Shia political party Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan (TJP), also known as the Tehrik-e-Islami, should not be confused with a short-lived outfit named Tehrik-e-Islami that was one of three groups of Pakistani Taliban operating during 2008 in Darra Adamkhel, a semi-tribal area known officially as the Frontier Region of Kohat. The Tehrik-e-Islami and the Islami Taliban became active in the area in mid-2007. The former was founded by a local Afridi tribesman named Muneer Khan, while the Islami Taliban was founded by Momin Afridi. The groups later merged and became part of the TTP. Both leaders were killed in a military operation in the area in 2008.