Chaudhry Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan (; 6 February 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a Pakistani jurist and diplomat who served as the first Foreign Minister of Pakistan. After serving as foreign minister he continued his international career and is the only Pakistani to preside over the International Court of Justice. He also served as the President of the UN General Assembly. He is the only person to date to serve as the President of both UN General Assembly and the International Court of Justice.
Khan became one of the most vocal proponents of Pakistan and led the case for the separate nation in the Radcliffe Commission which drew the countries of modern-day South Asia. He moved to Karachi in August 1947 and became a member of Pakistan's first cabinet serving as the country's debut foreign minister under the Liaquat administration. He remained Pakistan's top diplomat until 1954 when he left to serve on the International Court of Justice and remained on the court as a judge until 1958 when he became the court's vice president. He left the Hague in 1961 to become the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, a position he served until 1964.
During his time at the UN, he also represented the State of Palestine in a de facto capacity. He left the UN in 1964 to return to the ICJ and, in 1970, he became the first and only Pakistani to serve as the President of the International Court of Justice, a position he maintained until 1973. He returned to Pakistan and retired in Lahore where he died in 1985 at the age of 92. Khan is considered one of the leading founding fathers of Pakistan and a prominent figure in Pakistan. He authored several books on Islam both in Urdu and English.
Family and early life
Family
Chaudhry Zafarullah Khan was born on 6 February 1893 in the City of Sialkot in Sialkot District. His family were Zamindars of Sahi Jat extraction based around Daska and were of the headman of their village the other being a Sahi Sikh Sardar. Khan's family had suffered a decline during the Sikh era due to government favoritism towards Sikhs and the early death of his Great Grandfather which resulted in his grandfather, Chaudhry Sikandar Khan to become the village headman in his adolescence. However, over time, Chaudhry Sikander Khan regained much of the family's status and became a widely respected around Daska. Sikandar Khan's son and Zafarullah Khan's father, Chaudhry Nasrullah Khan became part of the first wave of Landed Gentry of Sialkot to receive a western education and became one of the most prominent lawyers of Sialkot district. Both of his parents were deeply religious members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim movement.
Khan's mother, Hussain Bibi, belonged to a well to do Zamindar family hailing from the Bajwa tribe of Jats. She was his father's maternal first cousin. Hussain Bibi and Zafarullah Khan were incredibly close and Khan called her the most powerful influence in his life. Hussain Bibi was deeply religious and was known for her exceptionally firm belief in God. Hussain Bibi had lost her first two children in their infancy. Relatives thought it was because she had refused to give offerings demanded by Jai Devi, a self acclaimed village witch, who villagers thought delved in black magic. They urged her to appease Jai Devi, however, Hussain Bibi bluntly refused even after mounting pressure from the family after the second infant's death. Arguing that she would gladly give charity to Jai Devi but since Jai Devi had claimed to control her infants ability to live or die she could not as it violated her faith. Stating that it would be tantamount to Shirk as only Allah controlled who lived or died.
Education
He studied at Government College, Lahore and received his L.L.B. from King's College London in 1914. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn, London. He practised law in Sialkot and Lahore, became a member of the Punjab Legislative Council in 1926.
Career
Muhammad Zafarullah Khan practiced law in Colonial India. He was the counsel for the Ahmadiyya cause in two landmark judgements. In 1916, the Patna High Court gave a verdict on the case Hakim Khalil Ahmad Vs. Malik Israfil which gave Ahmadis the right to use religious places of Islam for prayers. In 1922, the Madras High Court acknowledged Ahmadiyya as being a part of Islam in its verdict on the case Narantakath Avullah v. Parakkal Mammu.