Zubair was born in 1957 in the village of Peerdad, near Hazro in the Attock District of Punjab. His father having served two jail sentences for his membership in the Jamaat-e-Islami Islamist political party, Alizai became familiar with corruption and civil strife early on.
Zubair completed a bachelor"s degree and later on two master"s degrees, one in Islamic studies in 1983 and another in the Arabic language in 1994 from the University of the Punjab in Lahore. Additionally, Alizai graduated for a fourth time from the Salafi University in Faisalabad.
On top of his education in higher institutions of learning, Alizai was also a graduate of Pakistan"s Madrasa system. Alizai extensively studied the field of Hadith, or the statements and actions of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, in addition to the sub fields of Hadith terminology and Biographical evaluation.
He was a student of Badi" ud-Din Shah al-Rashidi during this time, in addition to other scholars of the Ahl al-Hadith movement in Pakistan.
Like his teacher Rashidi, Alizai followed the Zahirite school of Islamic law.
He was a polyglot; in addition to his native language of Hindko language and the Arabic language from his graduate study, Alizai was also fluent in English, Urdu, Pashto and Greek, and can read and understand Persian. His skill with Greek was earned during his time working with the Greek Merchant Navy, which he used to surprise a group of Christian missionaries during a public debate in 1997. He died on 10 November 2013 after being hospitalised for two months.
Education Editing and publishing Zubair was, like his former teacher Rashidi, a bibliophile, having amassed a private library of some renown in Hazro, where he spent most of his time.
