PESHAWAR: The funeral prayers of former Jamaati-i-Islami (JI) chief, Qazi Hussain Ahmed were held on motorway Ring Road in Peshawar on Sunday, January 6, 2012, DawnNews reported.

The funeral prayers were led by JI Chief Syed Munawar Hassan, and were attended by a large number of political and religious leaders including Central Amir of Jamiat e Ulema Islam (JUI-F) Fazlur Rehman, Chairman Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf President, Javed Hashmi, JUI-F leader, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, JI leader Liaquat Baloch, Former Senior Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister, Siraj Ul Haq, JUI-Sami Chief, Maulana Samiul Haq, Professor Khurshid Ahmed, former MNA Shabeer Ahmed Khan, senators, members of the parliament, officials, ex-local government representatives, and a large number of workers of JI.

After the prayers, his body was shifted to Ziarat Kaka Sahib in Nowshera district where he was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard.

Earlier today, Ahmed's body was brought from Islamabad to his residence in Peshawar.

Many party workers and supporters from all over the country were traveling to Peshawar to attend the funeral.

President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, Federal Information Qamar Zaman Kaira, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor and Chief Minister offered condolences over the death of the veteran politician and called it a great loss.

Pakistan Muslim league- Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister  Shahbaz Sharif, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain and Religious scholar and Minhaj-ul-Quran International chief Dr Tahirul Qadri, among others, also offered condolences over the demise of the former JI chief.

The 74-year-old religious scholar had died in Islamabad of cardiac illness.

Ahmed was suffering from cardiac disease for quite some time and turned critical three days ago.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed, 74, was also a prominent religious scholar, Islamic theologian, Islamic democracy advocate.

Qazi joined JI in 1978 and was elected as the party’s ameer (chief) in 1987, a position he would be re-elected to on two more occassions before finally stepping down in 2009. He served as the party's ameer for 22 years.

Last November, he escaped an attack unhurt when a suicide bomber detonated explosives near his convoy in the Mohmand tribal agency.