Zaheer had earned his fair share of controversy during his lifetime due to his well know debates with the leaders of various movements within the Muslim world, whom Zaheer viewed as deviated from the religious practices of the companions of Muhammad and the early generations of Muslims. This led to a number of death threats against him by various extremists, including an assassination attempt when he was visiting the United States and a Fatwa put out for Zaheer's death by Ayatollah Khomeini. In particular, his books and debates were known to have gained the ire of and death threats from members of the Barelwi and Shi'a sects and the Deobandi movement with previous incidents of extremist members assassinating and kidnapping Sunni Muslim figures.. He was also reported to have fallen out of favour with the Government of General Zia ul Haq for his outspoken opposition to the Sharia Bill and the involvement of the Government agencies in the enforcement of Shariat Law in Pakistan. He had also criticized the politically-influenced view of Islam propagated by Jamaat-e-Islami. Thus , it seems , he had fallen foul with virtually every force in Pakistan.
These death threats were finally carried out on March 23, 1987. While giving a speech on the biography of Muhammad, a bomb which had been planted on the stage exploded eventually killing Zaheer along with 18 attendees; 114 were seriously injured.Of the death toll, nine were also scholars and teachers within the Salafi and Ahle Hadith sects. Zaheer initially survived the blast and after initial treatment at the central hospital of Lahore, he was transferred for further medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.
He died on 30 March 1987 after spending 22 hours in a Riyadh hospital. Bin Baaz, whilst crying, led his funeral prayer in Riyadh. It was considered one of the most historical funerals ever prayed in Riyadh that included countless scholars and students of Islamic studies , and also senior government officials from Pakistan like General Zia ul Haq , General Akhtar Abdur Rehman and Sahabzada Yaqub Khan , the foreign minister. The funeral attendance was estimated above 3 million people, after which his body was taken to the Baqi graveyard.[7] His body was buried next to the grave of Malik ibn Anas.
Works
his famous books: “ash-Shia Was-Sunnah” “ash-Shia Wa-Ahlul-Bayt” “ash-Shia Wal-Qur'aan” “ash-Shiawat-TaShia” “Baynash-Shia Wa Ahlus-Sunnah”"Al brelwiyah"
