In the past few weeks there has been a buzz spreading around Pakistan’s digital world talking about the recent fame surrounding the TV show personality Zaid Hamid who conducts a show on TV One called Brasstacks. It should be mentioned that brasstacks is reportedly a paid-for show which has started airing barely a few months back and has developed a very strong following amongst the masses. Admittedly Zaid Hamid is quite eloquent in his show and is well versed in his explaining his innumerable concepts of ranging from economic terrorism by the Zionists to other such issues which are poised at him even Islamic issues
I too have been guilty of occasionally catching a glimpse of his show and did even carry his five part series on Economic Terrorism. All seemed well until a close associate contacted me via facebook sharing his concerns about Zaid Zaman Hamid and revealed his suspicious association with Yousuf Ali, a self proclaimed prophet from Lahore in the 1990’s. Zaid Zaman was purportedly the right hand man of Yousuf Ali and was fondly referred to as his Hazrat Ali. Zaid Zaman was instrumental in spreading the message of prophecy far across Pakistan, to develop a large cult like following in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad mostly due to Zaid Zaman’s excellent communication skills.
Yousuf Ali had been preaching his divine revelation to his followers for quite many years when finally a handful defected and braved to testify against him in the Lahore High Court which ultimately gave Yousuf Ali, a death sentence on charges of Blasphemy. Yousuf Ali was then confined to Kot Lakhpath jail and in 2001 was shot dead by a fellow prisoner. Throughout the legal proceedings one witness after another testified to the fact that Zaid Zaman was a key figure in the promotion of Yousuf Ali’s Kazzab movement. I have been told that there even does exists an analog video of Zaid Zaman standing beside Yousuf Ali while he addressed his followers in Lahore. Somehow the fact that Zaid Zaman was a key figure in this movement is generally a foregone conclusion, as there are one too many eye witnesses and more importantly numerous had testified the fact which may even be present in the records of Lahore High Court, including Zaid Zaman’s testimony to the honorable judge, all records are securely preserved in the archives of Tahaffuz-e-Khatm-e-Nabuwwat in Karachi.
The Zaid Zaman Hamid storm actually started with the email from Naufil Shahrukh, a close friend whom I have known since 1990, the email at first in the form of a private message on Facebook but soon propagated online and published on Dictatorship Watch, verbatim
If you guys remember the Pakistan false prophet, Yousuf Ali, who was arrested and sentenced to death by the Lahore High Court and then murdered in Kot Lakhpat jail by a fellow prisoner – this guy Zaid Hamid was known as Zaid Zaman at that time and was the Khalifah of that Kazzab. Zaid is still leading that cult which belongs to the Firqah Batinyah of Sufism and they have a different aqeedah altogether which they only profess within their inner core. Many of my personal friends fell prey to his charisma in the 1990s, some of them reverted back to Hidayah and were instrumental in filing a case against Yusuf Ali which ultimately lead to his death sentence and the cult members dispersed for a few years.
The time line of events that he narrates in his letter are erringly accurate and when Naufil mentioned to me later pointing out the common friends who fell prey to this cult one does weigh in a sigh of relief to have been spared of the poison. The most logical reason as to why our neighborhood was penetrated to such an extent can be attributed to the fact that Zaid Hamid hailed from our locality. Off the friends who willingly embraced Yousuf Ali’s prophecy was Ryzwan Tayyab who very soon featured himself as a militant leader of the movement and after the collapse of this movement has retreated into a cocoon of severe depression irreparably damaging his family around him. Ryzwan was also involved in actually issuing death threats to the few journalists who were critically investigating Yousuf Ali back in those days.
The resurfacing of Zaid Hamid after 15 years of hibernation is interesting, he catapults himself in 2006 as a security threat analyst frequently publishing PDF based Pakistan threat reports for a subscription fee of Rs. 25,000 but within a span of a two years mustered up enough finances to launch a self sponsored TV show which started transmission in the early months of 2008, suspiciously timed around the fall of the Pervaiz Musharraf’s regime. The sudden shot to fame on TV is being compared to the launch of Dr. Shahid Masood’s End of Time series, which too was based on an eloquent anchor with one too many theories to present.
Off the numerous people stepping forth to expose Zaid Hamid the must read narration is of a two year email correspondence between Zaid Hamid and Abidullah Jan. It gives an insight onto Zaid Zaman when he first started sharing his BrassTacks Security reports, slowly moving into becoming a much sought after personality. What was interesting to read was when in the early months of 2007 Zaid Zaman approached Abidullah Jan struggling to stay afloat and requested Abid to help promote his security reports to a wider audience “I am in need of some clients to stay afloat as I am being squeezed by the government’s men for being too open and ruthless”. Zaid Hamid a few months later, after the 3rd Nov Martial Law appeared on a couple of pro-Musharraf TV shows on PTV with Ahmed Qureshi. Then suddenly out of the blue he is able to muster up enough finances to launch a self sponsored show on TV One. Watching a person flutter from being financially strapped and haunted by ‘government’s men’ to appearing on a pro-Musharraf show, then having catapulting into his own show seems all too suspiciously the work of some ‘hidden hands‘
If coincidence was anything to go by, I also noted that around this time emerged Zaid Hamid’s articles on a very staunch pro-Musharraf proponent Ahmed Quraishi who continues to wage an online battle with the Anti-Musharraf sect. When today I inquisitively launched a witch hunt for Zaid Hamid on the website I was surprised to see that quite a few of Zaid Hamid’s editorials were missing for example the January 29th article which should have led to the page has been removed from the website sometime after September 5th 2008 [as indicated by the Google Cache] and this is not the only article missing of the series, I wonder why the sudden cover up after September 5th by Ahmed Quraishi.
The only acknowledgment of any link with Yousuf Ali came from an email shared with me privately where Zaid Hamid Alhamdolillah, i have nothing to do with Yousuf or his beliefs or any other people like him.
Lest I be charged of taking this message out of context I share with you the entire section of the email so people may understand his response fully
In the last 30 years of my life, In search of truth and to study this world and its ideologies, Allah took me to many places and I met many people. I have traveled with Iranian revolution, have faught in Afghan Jihad, have gone out with Tablighi Jmaat, spent time with Jamaat Islami, have met hundreds of people including Dr. Israr, Ahmad deedat, Yusuf Islam, Anne Marrie schimmel and so on and so forth. Have also been with sufi groups in Pakistan, Turkey, Madina and Cyprus. I have also seen the western society, its civilization from a close range. Whatever I speak and do today, is the result of these experiences in life but with the mercy of Allah, He protected his humble slaves and keeps them in His infinite mercy and guidance. He showed me the world and people, but kept me away from their harm and made me benefit from any khair they had.
I also met and studied many objectionable people who were controversial but in the end Allah kept me away from them. It was all learning experiences. Alhamdolillah, i have nothing to do with Yusuf or his beliefs or any other people like him
Though he puts forth a convincing argument but it seems yet again that he refuses to acknowledge his association with Yousuf Ali to categorically say that he has “nothing to do with Yousuf or his beliefs” is this admittance of his association or denial of the fact?
Proponents of Zaid Hamid continue to plead his innocence even today as Pakistan First blog, which has been previously labeled to have a strong pro-Musharraf tilt, shared an article by Asif Shiraz who writes Zaid Hamid: As I knew him
I first met Zaid hamid at the youthful age of 17, when the emotions were high, and the search for truth pristine and innocent. A friend had told me about Zaid Hamid, and I was anxious to meet him: I was not disappointed. Our first meeting was a blast. I enjoyed Zaid sahib’s charismatic talk on many different issues, especially his passion about Islam and his knowledge on a diverse set of subjects. Although it’s been many years now, I still remember highlights of that conversation: Quotations from Iqbal, recollection of glorious events from the lives of the Sahaba, and discussion of the relevance of having truth faith “Yaqin”. Not once on that day, nor ever afterwards in these fifteen years, have I ever heard anything from Zaid Hamid which is incongruent to ideas present in mainstream religious teachings of Ahl-e-Sunnah wal-jamaat. No mention of any “cult ideology”, and no reference to anyone claiming “prophethood” whatsoever. He is a firm believer in Khatme-e-Nabuwat and the finality of Prophet Muhammad(sm). In fact, Zaid Hamid is the only person whom I have met, who lives in a rented home, but still spends a handsome chunk of his earnings every year to pay a visit to the blessed cities of Hijaz-e-Muqaddas. It is nothing other than Zaid Hamid’s love and devotion to the Prophet(sm) that he has visited Masjid-e-Nabwi more than 10 times. After the first initial meeting, I have been in touch with Zaid Hamid off and on for many years, until I moved to Chaklala Scheme III becoming his neighbor and an even closer friend.
Asif Shiraz does admit in his article that he is now a neighbor of Zaid Hamid but surprisingly fails to disclose that he is an employee of BrassTacks as proclaimed by him in this Facebook message (Screen capture) whilst a little investigation also sheds some light that Mr. Asif Shiraz incidentally happens to be the Administrative domain contact for Zaid Hamid’s website Brasstacks.biz (screen capture)
It is sadly Asif Shiraz’s attempt to stand up for his boss only goes to discredit Zaid Zaman. To analyze Zaid Hamid’s Brasstacks TV show one should read the two articles published in The News by Fasi Zaka September 18th The Pakistan Report and on 25th September published a follow up titled Hate Speech – II
My concern here remains is that Zaid Zaman is appearing on public TV and continues to eloquently preach his philosophy to the public at large, had if this individual remained as private entity, then we would have had no right to question his beliefs, but once he dons the public forum, then I feel it is the right of the people to know the facts. Generally as a free society we cannot stop him from sharing his opinion with the public at large but it is our right to question his logic and any underlying issues that may tarnish his analysis as he chooses to present to the public, and in the same pretext its important to then question his association with the self proclaimed prophet a notion strictly prohibited in the religion of Islam.
The mystery surrounding this controversy seemingly gets worse with every passing day, could it be a mere propaganda, could it be his attempt to cover up his past, or does he simply choose ignore and hopefully forget, but more importantly does he still believe in the prophecy, so many questions, all shall remain a mystery until he alone chooses to address the propaganda and clarify his position once in for all
Comments
667 responses to “Who is Zaid Zaman Hamid? Brasstacks or Yousuf Kazzab Prophecy?”
do not go for an article
listen the following audio clip
http://www.esnips.com/doc/ea4b195c-40f9-46f8-a377-584690cd0c37/speach_bait_e_raza_yosuf_ali_zaid_zaman_1997
after the first few paragraphs I stopped reading the article for the following few reasons,
1> I didn’t see it and hence don’t believe it.
2> If you’re saying he’s lying what proves you aren’t.
3> Since I have started listening to him, I have been looking up ever incident he has mentioned and studying about it and have found nothing wrong or dodgy with his words. He speaks the truth.
4> Seems to me he’s asking us to follow our old path, not him. So, those of you who want to follow him please go ahead and dig up his dirt and past. Those, who want to follow the one he’s preaching about meaning Allah Almighty, listen to his words, study about them, and than For God’s sake THINK.
He’s been discussing history of zionists, their plan, procedures, intentions and every thing we need to know. He discussed muslim history, events we had forgotten, geography and history we have completely forgotten. You don’t believe him than don’t listen to him but go study for yourself. Open your eyes and your brain.
Think Muslims Think. Whether you do or not, your enemies are.
Kind Regards,
Nouman Butt
once hazrat eisa alehe salat o salam said to bani israel that(meaning) ” you filter the mosquitos and swallow the whole camel”
the defenders of zzh doing the same.leaving the balatant evidence of video clip and analysing the article.
http://www.esnips.com/doc/ea4b195c-40f9-46f8-a377-584690cd0c37/speach_bait_e_raza_yosuf_ali_zaid_zaman_1997
The mask has been removed.
Yeah I’m a defender. Defender of God when he Inshallah will will me to defend. Until than I’ll listen to the people whom my heart says are speaking the truth. And if you think you can prove them wrong, bring me evidence. A video in which zaid hamid HIMSELF says there’s another God but Allah Almighty, or Holy Prophet (SAW) are not the last prophet.
If you can’t prove it, keep your baseless, meaningless words to yourself. An audio proves nothing it can be composite. Even the pictures.
If you think he’s wrong and lying, prove it by Quran. Tell me what part he lied about. Give me a hadith, a verse. If you think he is lying about an event happening in the world, give us a link of the webpage you read it on. A newspaper of the world you read it in.
In simple, PUT UP or SHUT UP.
@All
Some honest eyewinesses would be real good who can testify against Zaid Zaman Hamid. We will take it from there.
@farrah k raja
@Nouman Butt
I found out your messages logical.It makes me feel better to see there are still a few people in Pakistan who can think logically. Otherwise, it looks like we have been breeding idiots for years.
“Yeah I’m a defender. Defender of God”
ALLAH(swt) doesn’t need any defender.
this was the heaviest rant i ever heard.
hahahahahahahahahaha
i have already put up and now you just control your monkey brain and listen
what knid of people you are?
@anwar syed
@farrah k raja
@nouman butt(the quranist)
used to much brain
well time to give it a rest
and please use your ears
http://www.esnips.com/doc/ea4b195c-40f9-46f8-a377-584690cd0c37/speach_bait_e_raza_yosuf_ali_zaid_zaman_1997
Dr Jawaad Khan
Thanks for providing the link.I have listened to it.Well I am a sunni and do believe in sufism.So I believe in all the sufi saints from Turkey ,to Europe to Paksitan and India.
————————-
MY COMMENTS ON ZAID after listening to tape on Link posted by Dr Jawaad @2:41 pm
I have never heard such bizzare introduction to living people.That they are Sahabis because they spend time in the company of prophet PBUH.
The manazil and martabaat of spirituality are always kept secret.Even the greatest sufis have not used such introduction for other sufis.
For example if we read KASHAF-UL-MAhjoob ,HAzrat Usman Alhajveri have described the benefits of practices and the following of Islam.The maximum these people have said about their Teachers is the things they have learnt from them as students.Also please note even Hazrat Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jillani was never given such introduction,yes there are Wali Allah but a Wali Allah is not a Sahabi.
Thus the followers of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jillani got inspired from his BArakaat and Rehmatain but was never acclaimed as Sahabi .Same goes for HAzrat Nizam Ud din Ullyah And HAzrat Usman Al HAjveri.All these Sufis were friends and they did meet each other but never used such introduction and defination.
In Zaid’s Introduction:
It is a clever use of words and the atmosphere is one of a local mosque.So I do understand there will be huge population who would like to listen and watch such programme.
Pakistan a country which is already divided into sects and ethnic differences ,we do not need such programmes.I am extremely skeptic of intentions ,six months down the line ,whole civil riots in the name of religion can errupt.
We have to be extremely cautious who is preaching us what and we should stop blind faith in people.
We should allow debate.If Mr.Ziad would sit infront of eductaed people and discuss the issues Muslims are facing today I am sure it will be completely different.
I STILL DO NOT SEE WHY THE ABOVE ARTICLE HAD BEEN WRITTEN.
WE do not have to be afraid and we do not have to HATE such people,we should not isolate them.In todays world their will be very few people who would investigate Quran and Hadith.Investigate means study it and try to learn.
We need to have dialogues with such people.For example as I have put forward my reservation,Zaid can respond and amend
and so can I .But if we are responded by intolerance and hatred we would not know what are the grievances and why all this hate when with our sincerest approach we tried to share with people what we felt.
ZAID IS A HUMAN BEING,A MUSLIM,A SCHOLAR,we can differ with his interpretation or his use of word but we must not hate him or isolate him.
For if HIS DIFFERENCE OF APPROACH(which I find very common in local mosques in Pakistan and UK)is the basis of HATE than we must hate SAudi ARABIA AND IRAN,but we do not.
It is so comfertable for us to throw stones at a lonely person.
Instead of all this written against him it would have been far better if we debate with him and allow him to explain and then with open heart and mind accept that reason .
Also it would be beneficial instead of people like me,NEEM HAKIM KHATRAI JAAN ,we do take the openion of all scholars,despite Sunni,Wahabi,SHIAT ,peopel like Dr,ISRAR AHMED,Dr GHULAM MALIK MURTAZA ,Tahir ul Qadri and scholars from ISMIC DEPARTMENT of Punjab University and Karachi and still apply RATIONALE and weigh the JUDGEMENT ,is it the jealeousy of these people or if it is correct.
PEOPLE LET US NEVER FORGET ONLY ALLAH
Let us keep praying for ourselves that we are guided to the right path untill the day we die.
People Let us never forget ONLY ALLAH ALONE IS Perfect and so is QURAN ,rest are all human beings our prayers and purity is to be judged by ALLAH alone.
MUSLIMS MUST ABSTAIN FROM QUESTIONING THE FAITH AND PURITY OF OTHER PERSONS BELIEF.WE disagree but let us disagree without hate.
@FARRAH k Raja
once again thanks for litening and understanding.it is not me who provide this audio clip.i must slute the:
@ talkhaba
@ bios
@ Zafar Iqbal
@ Khan Lala
@ The lone ranger
@ Arif
these fine gentlemen did not take the rest and work really hard to revealed the ugly face of zzh.
as i already said that any person with good nature when do some thing wrong,his conscience make him restless and make him confess and repent which zzh never did.
i completely agree with taking opinion with scholars but i strongly believe in that the tolerance level should be zero when it comes to the freaky proselytism.the dialogue with this kind of people may lower the threshold for imposterism.
once again thanks for listening and understanding.
Dr Jawad
Once upon a time I was a Lecturer of English lit and class Teacher of First Year.One of my student came crying to me saying Islamic Study teacher has not counted her marks correctly and now she is not ready to amend the mark sheet.
We used to show students their papers so that they understand the mistakes they have made and have better understanding how to attempt paper.
So of course I took her paper to the ISlamic study Lecturer
who was a colleague and friend when I asked her to amend the mark,she responded ,HUMARA LIKHA KABHI GHALAT NAHEIN HOU SAKTA.
First I was shocked and than left,so I corrected it with the permission of Principal and got Principal to amend it.
Below is the link for his political take ,I think it is Ziad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eij5o7XizIA
If it is him than clearly he is someone like you and me who has polished religious side and is trying to become ISlamic Scholar.Extremely dangereous.We as educated people may have read few more books but it does not make us scholars on the subject,only people who have accademically taken the study should go on to preach and speak on Islam on TV and answer peoples queries.
people like you and me and Ziad can write and share what an experience being a muslim is or what it means to us personally but we cannot start preaching on the basis of it.
After watching these clips, your posted comments on this blog will reflect who you are. Either a patriotic Pakistani or Pakistan’s enemy.
1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7np3nWK8_c
2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99xj8dKCKIM
3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxli3SQ9upg
4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4oH0nWLcw8
5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL3EQEMxAYc
@Farrah k raja!
to me the difference between adolescence and adulthood that in later the aims and goals become clear and habbits become mature and permanent and as age passes a man is infatuated with aims and habbits.
you are quite right when it comes to teaching, a man like me with limited concepts and studies should not allow to teach about islam,quran and hadeeth. but on the other hand when it comes to preaching it is an obligaton of every mulim man and woman to preach. as in hadeeth it was mentioned(meaning)
“preach even if you know only one verse of Quran ”
and order in Quran at many places.
once a woman came to Nabee e Kareem(saaw)with her child and complained that her son eats much of jaggery and asked Him to advise her son. Nabi Kareem(saaw) asked her to come next day. the woman came next day and Rasool ullah(SAAW) advised her son. sahaaba e karam(ra) asked YA RASOOL ULLAH(saaw) why didn’t you advised him yesterday. Nabee e Kareem said(meaning) that yesterday i my self ate the jaggery.
i hope you shall get my point.
dynamics and requirements of preaching are quite different from teaching.
I have read alot of comments in this blog :
My Friends I have almost watched all programs of zaid hamid critically, Neutrally speaking If one talk about his intententions i did not find a single word showing or unveiling his intention of being a pervert, so far so good, I even contacted him thru email hes been gentle enough,
Friends one must not cast judgements untill we are sure of it to an extend of seeing it our selves or verifying it personally. I can write numerous articles on any higly liked man to create doubts in peoples mind.
Learn what good some one is teaching, and not wrong some one is preaching.
@SR!
watched all programmes of ZZH?
listen this;
http://www.esnips.com/doc/ea4b195c-40f9-46f8-a377-584690cd0c37/speach_bait_e_raza_yosuf_ali_zaid_zaman_1997
Somehow I feel this post has outlived its usefulness, 670 comments should be enough for both sides to convince each other, but now I feel most are just repeatedly ranting away at each other.
My own conclusion to this dispute having watched this discussion, is that whatever Zaid Zaman shares in his TV One program people should simply listen mindful of his past associations, if his arguments make sense so be it, if it doesnt take a pill and switch the channel. If some feel he is preaching with a hidden agenda, then uncover the agenda with irrefutable facts.
I some how am convinced that he is the same Zahid Hamid which was the Right hand man of Yousuf Ali But I do not hold him to it. If he says [though he has not] that he has moved on from this past, so be it, I take his word for it, afterall he is a muslim, and I must trust it, unless I am proven wrong. I also feel its no use to continue to rub his nose in this issue, it will not achieve any good as ZZH continues to garner his publicity, without so much as blinking an eye.
If you choose to listen to him, just do so like an educate person, who hears and weighs everything in the larger perspective, being mindful of his previous assocaitions
That said Mr. Zaid Zaman Hamid – I sincerely hope that you are, who you say you are, and hope that there is no ‘ulterior motive’ hidden in your recent shot to fame, for the sake of Pakistan, I wish you good luck
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