PESHAWAR - The moving figure behind the establishment of Darul Uloom was Sheikh-ul-Hadith Maulana Abdul Haq father of Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, a great religious scholar of Islam. It was due to his untiring and selfless efforts that Darul Uloom has assumed a prominent place in the Muslim World.
Akora Khattak, a small town of KP, assumed a historic importance in early 19th century when followers of Syed Ahmad Braileve launched an offensive against Sikh rulers of Punjab. It is said that it was precisely the same place where Darul Uloom Haqqania is presently situated.
In 1937 Sheikhul Hadith started a primary school for educational purposes of the local children. Maulana Sayed Hussain Ahmed Madani (RA) laid its foundation-stone along with Maulana Abdul Haq. The school also has religious education in its course. It was a primary school till 1966. But after that it started to develop gradually and today it is a high school. The Islamic course exams are taken by local scholars as well as teachers from Jamia Haqqania.
The governmental course exams are taken by officers from the governmental education institution.
The foundation-stone of the current Haqqania High School was laid by Maulana Qari Tayyeb Sahab. There are about 30 teachers in the school at the moment. About one thousand students study in it at the moment.
The seminary is also known for having many senior leaders of Afghanistan Taliban among its alumni, including Mullah Omar, and its role in supporting the Taliban. It has since become one of the biggest madrassas in Pakistan and has produced many known Taliban leaders who proudly add Haqqani to their name.
The Chancellor of Darul Uloom Haqqania is Maulana Samiul Haq who in his lifetime negated the notion that it was the base camp of Afghan Jehad and said that people from all walks of life participated in Soviet war and it was not limited to Darul Uloom Haqqania. He has served in this post since the death of his father, Maulana Abdul ul-Haq, the founder of the madrassa, in 1988.
Recently due to the services of the seminary for the promotion of education, the PTI government approved 277 million for its upgradation.
The grant was widely criticised by some political parties, however, Pervez Khattak the then KP chief minister fully defended the funds which would be spent for promotion of modern education.
