The Afghan Famiy

Headed by Abdul Rafiq Afghan, the Afghan Family is different from most other newspaper publishers in Pakistan. It neither has a business background, as many newer media houses in the country do, nor is it a part of the old guard legacy media. Its origin lie in Islamist ideology and an opportune marriage.

Its founder, Abdul Rafiq Afghan, was born to Karachi-based middle class parents who had migrated to Pakistan from India in 1947. He started his professional career by working as a journalist with an Islamist Urdu weekly, Takbeer. A few years later, he married the only daughter of the weekly’s founder and editor Maulana Salahuddin.

After Maulana Salahuddin’s murder in 1994, Abdul Rafiq Afghan was expelled from the magazine. It was then that he first thought about bringing out his own newspaper – an idea that materialised a couple of years later in the shape of daily Ummat.

Since then, Abdul Rafiq Afghan has reconciled with his wife who, after the murder of her father, had left him to live with her mother. She also initially accused him of murdering her father to take over his business.

In 2003, Abdul Rafiq Afghan set up a company, Ummat Publications Private Limited, in order to corporatize the running of daily Ummat and its affiliated publications. He originally owned 90% shares in the company while his two brothers, Abdul Nasir Afghan and Abdul Rauf Afghan, each owned 5% of its shares. Later, Abdul Rafiq Afghan would also acquire the shares owned by Abdul Rauf Afghan.