Maulana Sami ul Haq is a Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

i religious leader and a politician. He is known for his close ties to the Taliban and has been referred to as the "Father of the Taliban". He has also served as a member of the Senate of Pakistan

Senate of Pakistan

The Senate of Pakistan is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan. Elections are held every three years for one half of the senate and each senator has a term of six years...

.

Sami ul Haq is the chancellor of the Darul Uloom Haqqania

Darul Uloom Haqqania

Darul Uloom Haqqania is an Islamic religious seminary located in Akora Khattak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. The seminary propagates the Deobandi trend of Sunni Islam and was founded along the lines of Darul Uloom Deoband....

, a Deobandi

Deobandi

Deobandi is a movement of Sunni Islam. The movement began at Darul Uloom Deoband in Deoband, India, where its foundation was laid on 30 May 1866.-History:...

 Islamic seminary which is the alma mater

Alma mater

Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...

 of several Taliban leaders.

Politically he is the leader of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam is a political party in Pakistan. It formed a combined government in national elections in 2002 and 2008...

 political party, known as JUI-S.

Sources

• Maulana Sami ul Haq - Khyber.org
• Voices from the Whirlwind: Assessing Musharraf's Predicament, PBS.org
• Pakistan religious schools get scrutiny, Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times
  Los Angeles Times
  The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
  
  , May 30, 2009
• Inside Islam's "terror schools", William Dalrymple, New Statesman
  New Statesman
  New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
  
  , 28 March 2005
• The 'university of holy war', Haroon Rashid, BBC Online, 2 October 2003
• Pakistan: The Taliban takeover, Ziauddin Sardar
  Ziauddin Sardar
  Ziauddin Sardar is a London-based scholar, writer and cultural-critic who specialises in Muslim thought, the future of Islam, futures studies and science and cultural relations...
  
  , New Statesman
  New Statesman
  New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
  
  , 30 April 2007
• Education mullah style, Tony Cross, Radio France Internationale
  Radio France Internationale
  Radio France Internationale was created in 1975 as part of Radio France by the Government of France, and replaced the Poste Colonial , Paris Mondial , Radio Paris , RTF Radio Paris and ORTF Radio Paris...
  
  , 11 May 2008
• EU snub for hardline Pakistan MP, BBC News Online
  BBC News Online
  BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. The website is the most popular news website in the United Kingdom and forms a major part of BBC Online ....
  
  , 20 April 2005
• EU snub draws Pakistani protest, BBC News Online
  BBC News Online
  BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. The website is the most popular news website in the United Kingdom and forms a major part of BBC Online ....
  
  , 21 April 2005