[8][9] Jamaat-e-Islami was founded in Islamia Park, Lahore, British India in 1941 by the Muslim theologian and socio-political philosopher, Abul Ala Maududi, who was widely influenced by the Sharia based reign of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.

[10] At the time of the Indian independence movement, Maududi and the Jamaat-e-Islami actively worked to oppose the partition of India.

[20][21] Jamaat-e-Islami's founder and leader until 1972 was Abul A'la Maududi, a widely read Islamist philosopher and political commentator, who wrote about the role of Islam in South Asia.

Jamaat-e-Islami thus actively opposed the partition of India, with its leader Maulana Abul A'la Maududi arguing that concept violated the Islamic doctrine of the ummah.

[22] JIP began by volunteering in refugee camps; performing social work; opening hospitals and medical clinics and by gathering the skins of animals sacrificed for Eid-ul-Azha.

There they volunteered to help the thousands of refugees pouring into the country from India[31] – performing social work; opening hospitals and medical clinics; and by gathering the skins of animals sacrificed for Eid-ul-Azha.

During the prime-ministership of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (September 1956 – October 1957), JIP argued for a separate voting system for different religious communities.

Suhrawardy convened a session of the National Assembly at Dhaka and through an alliance with Republicans, his party passed a bill for a mixed voting system.

In March 1953, riots in Lahore started leading to looting, arson and the killing of at least 200 Ahmadis and the declaration of selective martial law.

[33] In 1958, JIP formed an alliance with Abdul Qayyum Khan (Muslim League) and Chaudhry Muhammad Ali (Nizam-e-Islam Party).

The military ruler, the president Muhammad Ayub Khan (1958–1964), had a modernising agenda and opposed the encroachment of religion into politics.

By the end of 1969, the Jamaat-e-Islami was spearheading a major "campaign for the protection of ideology of Pakistan," which it believed was under threat from atheistic socialists and secularists.

[citation needed] Just prior to the election, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan left the alliance leaving JIP to run against the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Awami League.

[35] Zulfikar Ali Bhutto won the 1970 election campaign and was strongly opposed by JIP who believed he and his socialist ideology were a threat to Islam.

In 1972, Maududi resigned citing poor health, and Maulana Naeem Siddiqui refused to become the Ameer of the Jamaat due to his research activities.

The opposition considered the election rigged (Bhutto's PPP won 155 out of 200 seats) and Maududi, who had been arrested, called on Islamist parties to commence a campaign of civil disobedience.

The Sunni-led government of Saudi Arabia intervened to secure Maududi's release from prison warning of revolution in Pakistan.

[45][48] In 1987, Mian Tufail declined further service as head of JIP for health reasons and Qazi Hussain Ahmad was elected.

In 1987, when Zia died, the Pakistan Muslim League formed the right-wing alliance, Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI).

In this year, JIP was a member of the newly formed All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) which promotes the independence of Jammu and Kashmir from India.

Qazi Hussain resigned from the Senate on 27 September and announced the start of a long march against Benazir Bhutto's government.

However, the party remained politically active, for example, protesting the arrival of the Indian Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in Lahore.

In 2006, JIP opposed the Women's Protection Bill saying it did not need to be scrapped but instead, be applied in a fairer way and be more clearly understood by judges.

Ahmed said, Samia Raheel Qazi, MP and daughter of Ahmed stated, At least during the time of Ahmad, the position of JIP on revolutionary action was that it was not ready to turn to extra-legal action but that its objectives are definite (qat'i) but its methods are "open to interpretation and adaptation (ijtihadi)" based on the "exigencies of the moment".

[56] On 23 July 2007, Qazi Hussain Ahmad tendered his resignation from the National Assembly to protest against the Army operation at Lal Masjid.

Ahmad declined to stand for re-election due to health issues, and Syed Munawar Hassan was elected as the ameer.

[58] On 30 March 2014, Siraj-ul-Haq, serving as senior minister in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the party's deputy chief, was elected as the new ameer.

In 2016, Siraj-ul-Haq led funeral prayers for Mumtaz Qadri, who had been executed for assassinating Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer while serving as his bodyguard.

In the aftermath of the 2007 siege of Lal Masjid, Fazlullah's forces and Baitullah Mehsud's Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) formed an alliance.

[78] After the death of Hakimullah Mehsud in a drone attack, Fazlullah was appointed as the new "Amir" (Chief) of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan on 7 November 2013.