Sunday, 11 September 2011

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By Mr. M. R. Malik and Mr. Raj Srinivasan  | Sept. 10, 2011

Source: http://www.topnewsreports.com/1234/sept11/report006.html

Eminent world leaders have recognized his work towards peace and freedom

In the course of human history, someone is born every hundred years or so, whose intuition on God, religion, and faith transcends the religion he or she is born into, and attracts people of many faith based groups, or people belonging to other religions. Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, who lives in Canada and travels around the world to spread his message of peace and freedom for all humanity, is one of the revivalists of the present century. Most of his speech is directed towards the extremist elements in the Muslim world, though many of his admirers who attend the meetings are leaders in other religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism. He acknowledges that the Western countries provide more freedom to Muslims than the many avowed Muslim nations and the Arab nations. It is not enough to read an article on him and try to understand his mission, his message for humanity, and where he is heading. There are too many news on both the print media and the websites to list.

The new Fatwa on Terrorism from the renowned authority of the Islamic World, Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, deals a devastating blow to al-Qaeda and its affiliates by removing decisively any remnant of theological justifications for terrorism. What is a Fatwa? A Fatwa is an Islamic religious ruling, widely misunderstood as a violent call to arms. The main theme of the Fatwa is that any act of terrorism, such as suicide bombing, cannot be justified, and there are no conditions, no pre-texts, and no exemptions. Dr. Qadri's book, comprising 500 pages, was the first comprehensive analysis of terrorism, based on research of the Holy Quran, Hadith and Prophetic traditions (Indian Newslink, NZ, 13/08/2011) Not any Muslim cleric can issue a Fatwa. Only religious leaders of such prominence, who have learned the Holy Quran and have done extensive research can issue one. He has given interviews on Sky News, BBC News, and Al-Jazeera, and was interviewed by Sir David Frost. There is much admiration for the work of Minhaj-ul-Quran International which in 2010 ran an anti-terrorism camp for Muslim youth in the UK.

In his religious ruling, delivered in London, Dr. Qadri says that Islam forbids the massacre of innocent citizens and suicide bombings.

Although many scholars have made similar rulings in the past, Dr. Qadri argued that his massive document goes much further by omitting "ifs and buts" added by other thinkers.

Dr. Qadri developed this document last year as a response to the increase in bombings across Pakistan by militants, whom he called the "heroes of hellfire". Shaykh-ul-Islam has been consistent in his endeavors to spread the true image of Islam. Here are some keynotes from his powerful speech at the Global Peace & Unity Event on October 24, 2010: "Islam stands for peace, love, compassion, mercy, and human dignity, and there is no room for terrorism in Islam. Islam does not stand for any kind of violence, militancy, terrorism, and brutality."

Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri clarified that "the literal meaning of jihad is exertion, struggling, striving, and putting extreme efforts according to extreme abilities, to counter evil, to achieve good for the sake of Allah." He added that "The defensive struggle against your enemy, defensive struggle against your lower-self, hatred, arrogance, corruption is one dimension of Jihad. And this is for the safety of the mankind, not for killing of mankind."

Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri was given the title of "Shaykh-ul-Islam" by several major Islamic Institutions & Islamic authorities of this time, because of his great contributions to Islam and the Muslim world.

Moderates such as Dr. Qadri do not fear the West, which, as Dr. Qadri says, allows Muslims more human rights and freedoms than Arab nations. More on this and his speech in Brisbane, Australia are published by David Costello at his website at couriermail.

Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri founded an organization in 1981 called Minhaj-ul-Quran International , which runs schools and colleges all over the country. In less than 30 years, Minhaj-ul-Qur'an has expanded and spread over more than 90 countries around the world; in terms of its comprehensive and all-encompassing sphere of activities, educational, social, cultural and spiritual, Minhaj-ul-Qur'an is probably one of the largest non-governmental organizations in the world.

Shaykh-ul-Islam is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Governors of Minhaj University Lahore, which is chartered by the Government and is imparting higher education to thousands of students in the faculties of basic, modern, social, management, and religious sciences. He is the founding leader of different forums of Minhaj-ul-Qur'an including Minhaj-ul-Qur'an Ullama Council, Minhaj Welfare Foundation, Minhaj-ul-Qur'an Women League, Minhaj Youth League, Mustafavi Students Movements, and Muslim Christian Dialogue Forum.

The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has formally recognized and granted a 'Special Consultative Status' to Minhaj-ul-Quran International. The UN ECOSOC consultative status allows NGOs to attend UN conferences and meetings, submit written statements and reports, make oral interventions, and host panels in UN buildings.

Dr. Qadri has authored over 1000 literary works in 25 years, 450 of which have been published. Additionally, he has delivered over 6000 recorded lectures (in English, Arabic, and Urdu) encompassing countless fields. His revivalist, reformative and reconstructive efforts hold the distinct position for the propagation of faith.

Many of his books have also been translated into many other languages of the world, including Arabic, French, Norwegian, and English. His revivalist, reformative and reconstructive efforts hold the distinct position for the propagation of faith.

His views on women are liberal and advocate equality of gender. Dr. Qadri explains that women in Islam received the voting rights 1500 years ago, while in the western countries, women's suffrage is a relatively new concept which happened in the 20th Century.

Dr. Qadri's views on human rights are what the western countries are trying to propagate all over the world. He is against the violation of human rights by any group, and he states that mercy and love ought to be the foremost principles before any religious thoughts in the minds of human beings.

You can learn more about Dr. Qadri’s work on his website.

Eminent world leaders have recognized his work towards peace and freedom. A renowned American intellectual, Dr. Sardar Ganga Singh Dhillon, is a leader of Sikh community in Washington DC. He is a PhD in Political Science. On June 29, 2008, he expressed the following views in a meeting with a delegation of MQI at the residence of Ms. Aleena Aziz Tiwan. He said, "I am acquainted with Dr. Tahir-ul- Qadri for a long time and of the personalities who have established their identity on the basis of scholarship, Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri is one of them.

Whenever venerable Doctor came to the US, I had the honor of hosting him in addition to others. I have a special association with him. He is a great personality of history. He has knowledge of all religions and respects them. His services for peace, harmony and interfaith dialogue hare playing their effective role internationally. I benefit from the speeches and books of Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. His viewpoint on human rights and other global issues is very argumentative and above religious biases and divides. He is a great Islamic scholar but also values but followers of other faiths also respect him a lot. Whenever I visit Pakistan, I hold a meeting with Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. I think such personalities are gift of God to mankind.