Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony

The Ministry of Religious Affairs (Urdu: وزارت مذہبی امور و بین العقائد ہم آہنگی, abbreviated as MoRA) is a government agency of Pakistan responsible for religious matters such as pilgrimage outside Pakistan, especially to India for Ziyarat, and Saudi Arabia for Umrah and Hajj. It is also responsible for the welfare and safety of pilgrims. The agency has its headquarters in Islamabad.[1]

Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony
وزارت مذہبی امور و بین العقائد ہم آہنگی
Agency overview
Formed14 August 1973 (1973-08-14)
JurisdictionGovernment of Pakistan
HeadquartersKohsar Block, New Pak Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan
33.7413411964465°N 73.09252097522672°E / 33.7413411964465; 73.09252097522672
Annual budgetRs.493 million (2021)
Minister responsible
Agency executive
  • Secretary, Mumtaz Ali Shah
Websitemora.gov.pk

The Ministry was established by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Its first minister was Maulana Kausar Niazi.[2] The minister's position is now led by Muhammad Talha Mahmood who assumed office after the death of Mufti Abdul Shakoor on 15 April 2023.[3][4]

Wings

The ministry is composed of several subordinate bodies including:

  • Administration and Finance Wing
  • Dawah and Ziarat Wing
  • Development and Coordination Wing
  • Directorate of Hajj
  • Interfaith Harmony Wing Research and Reference Wing
  • Council of Islamic Ideology
  • Madrassah Education Board.[5]

List of ministers

The following it the list of Federal Ministers for Religious Affairs:[6]

No. Name Tenure start Tenure end Duration
1 Maulana Kausar Niazi 14 August 1973 5 July 1977
2 A. K. Brohi 5 July 1978 23 August 1978
3 Mahmoud A. Haroon 21 April 1979 9 March 1981
4 General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq 9 March 1981 15 March 1981
5 Alhaj Mohammad Abbas Khan Abbasi 15 March 1981 18 March 1984
6 Raja Zafar-ul-Haq 19 March 1984 26 February 1985
7 Dr. Muhammad Afzal 28 February 1985 24 March 1985
8 Muhammad Khan Junejo 10 April 1985 28 January 1986
9 Mir Haji Tareen 28 January 1986 28 August 1986
10 Iqbal Ahmed Khan 28 August 1986 20 December 1986
11 Syed Qasim Shah 1 February 1987 29 March 1987
12 Haji Muhammad Saifullah Khan 29 March 1987 29 May 1988
13 Maulana Wasi Mazhar Naqvi (caretaker government) 9 June 1988 19 November 1988
14 Khan Bahadur Khan 23 March 1989 6 August 1990
15 Hazar Khan Bijarani 7 October 1990 6 November 1990
16 Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan 28 March 1991 10 September 1991
17 Maulana Muhamad Abdus Sattar Khan Niazi 10 September 1991 18 July 1993
18 Justice (R) Abdul Shakurul Islam 18 July 1993 19 October 1993
19 Jehangir Bader 31 July 1996 5 November 1996
20 Faridullah Khan (caretaker government) 6 November 1996 17 February 1997
21 Raja Zafar-ul-Haq 11 July 1997 12 October 1999
22 Abdul Malik Kasi 6 November 1999 15 August 2000
23 Dr. Mahmood Ahmad Ghazi 15 August 2000 5 August 2002
24 Owais Ahmed Ghani 5 August 2002 23 November 2002
25 Ijaz-ul-Haq 24 March 2004 16 November 2007
26 Khawaja Attaullah Taunsa Sharif (caretaker government) 16 November 2007 25 March 2008
27 Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah 11 April 2008 3 November 2008
28 Hamid Saeed Kazmi 14 November 2008 14 December 2010
29 Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah 14 December 2010 16 March 2013
30 Shahzada Jamal Nazir (caretaker government) 3 April 2013 4 June 2013
31 Sardar Muhammad Yousaf 7 June 2013 31 May 2017
32 Muhammad Yusuf Shaikh (caretaker government) 5 June 2018 20 August 2018
33 Noor-ul-Haq Qadri 20 August 2018 10 April 2022
34 Mufti Abdul Shakoor[7] 19 April 2022 15 April 2023
35 Muhammad Talha Mahmood[8] 15 April 2023 Incumbent

See also

References
  1. "Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony". mora.gov.pk. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  2. "'There was no religious affairs ministry in Quaid's cabinet'". Dawn. Pakistan. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  3. Ali, Kalbe (19 April 2023). "Talha Mahmood given portfolio of religious affairs". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  4. "Senator Talha Mahmood appointed as Minister for Religious Affairs". www.radio.gov.pk. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  5. "Introduction". Ministry of Religious Affairs, Pakistan. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  6. "Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony". mora.gov.pk. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  7. https://mora.gov.pk/Detail/OTgxMDIyMTEtN2ViMS00ZDRiLWFhZDItZTg3MzA3MjRlYjg5
  8. https://www.dawn.com/news/1748431
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