Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri

A Brief Introduction

Great intellectual, reformer, hadith-scholar, interpreter of the Holy Qur’an, author and organizational leader of contemporary times, Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, was born in Jhang city of Pakistan on February 19, 1951. He got his early education in Jhang and passed all examinations from matriculation to Masters with great distinctions. He did his LLB from the University of the Punjab in 1974 and in 1986 got his PhD on the topic of “Punishments in Islam, their Classification and Philosophy” from the same University.

His revered father Farid-e-Millat Dr Farid-ud-Din Qadri was a top-notch scholar, reformer, expert doctor of medicine, eloquent poet, practicing mystic, lover of the Holy Prophet (saw) and multi-dimensional intellectual. He went through the phases of medical and religious education under the close supervision of prominent people in higher institutions of Delhi, Hyderabad Deccan, Lucknow, Sialkoat and Jhang. For acquisition of spiritual blessings and complete expertise in Islamic sciences, he undertook journey to visit great Islamic institutions of Arab countries including Syria and Iraq in particular and two sacred places of Islam namely Makkah and Madina. He happened to study under great scholarly personalities of Islamic world like Shaykh ‘Alawi bin ‘Abbas al-Maliki al-Makki and Shaykh Muhammad al-Kittani during his stay there. He took his spiritual allegiance at the hands of Sayyidina Shaykh Ibrahim Saif-ud-Din Gilani of Baghdad. Due to his high literary and poetic taste, he had a number of meetings with the Poet of the East Allama Muhammad Iqbal during his youth. His internal spiritual yearning also led him to see Sayyid Pir Maher Ali Shah.

The prominent and most revered personalities of the time whose company Dr Farid-ud-Din Qadri enjoyed included Sayyid Ahmad Sa‘eed Kazmi, Shaykh-ul-Islam Khawaja Muhammad Qamar-ud-Din Sialwi, Qibla Babu Ji, Shaykh-ul-Hadith Sardar Ahmad Qadri, Shaykh Qutb-ud-Din, Shaykh Abdul Ghafoor Hazarwi, Sahibzada Faiz-ul-Hasan Aalu Mahar Sharif, Shaykh Muhammad Umar Ichhrawi, Shaykh ‘Abd-ur-Rashid Rizwi, Shaykh ‘Abd-us-Sattar Khan Niazi and other prominent personalities of the Arab and non-Arab countries.

Shaykh-ul-Islam is the fruit of his father's prayers that he made at the Maqam Multazam in the holy Kaba before his birth. He said, “O Master of the worlds! Grant me a son who possesses Your gnosis and has deep knowledge of Your Religion; is a champion of a great Islamic, scholarly, intellectual, moral and political revolution and who benefits an age with his scholarship!” So when Allah Almighty granted this prayer, he was not only given the glad tidings of the birth of a son but the son was also named ‘Tahir’. True lover of the Holy Prophet (saw), Dr Farid-ud-Din Qadri added Muhammad with Tahir due to the Prophetic reference and devoted his God-given scholarly, religious and spiritual capabilities for the education and training of Tahir. That is why his father took him to the holy city of Madina in his childhood in 1963 and got a great scholarly personality of the Islamic world, Shaykh Zia-ud-Din Madani, to inaugurate his religious studies in the Prophet's Mosque. On his arrival back to the country, Muhammad Tahir was formally admitted to Jamia Qutbiyya Rizwiyya (Jhang). He kept getting education of Dars Nizami from Shaykh ‘Abd-ur-Rashid Rizwi and his father till 1969 simultaneously with general education like Matriculation and FSc. In 1970, he completed Dawra Hadith from his father. In 1979 he was authorized to transmit Hadith by Shaykh Sayyid Ahmad Saeed Kazimi. Likewise Shaykh Muhammad bin ‘Alawi al-Maliki al-Makki also specially authorized him to narrate Hadith.

The names of a few prominent personalities who taught Shaykh-ul-Islam are given here below:

1. Qudwat-ul-Awliya Sayyidina Tahir ‘Ala-ud-Din al-Qadri al-Gilani
2. Shaykh Zia-ud-Din Ahmad Qadri al-Madani
3. Farid-e-Millat Dr Farid-ud-Din Qadri
4. Shaykh Abu al-Barkaat Sayyid Ahmad Qadri
5. Mohaddith Azam Shaykh Muhammad Sardar Ahmad Qadri
6. Ghazali Zaman Shaykh Sayyid Ahmad Saeed Kazmi
7. Shaykh Ghulam Rasul Rizwi
8. Dr Bhurhan Ahmad Farooqi
9. Shaykh ‘Abd-ul-Ma‘bud al-Madani
10. Shazkh ‘Ab-ur-Rashid Rizwi
11. Prof Dr Bashir Ahmad Saddique
12. Mohaddith Harem Sayyid ‘Alawi bin ‘Abbas al-Maliki al-Makki
13. Mohaddith Harem Sayed Muhammad bin ‘Alawi al-Maliki al-Makki
14. Shaykh Sayyid Muhammad al-Fatih al-Kittani
15. Shaykh Husayn bin Ahmad ‘Usayran (a student of Imam Yusuf bin Isma‘il Nabhani)

Not only did Shaykh-ul-Islam study the Holy Qur’an and Hadith deeply from the revolutionary angle during his religious learning but also went through dozens of books of a number of Muslim and non-Muslim scholars. When he entered practical life at the age of 21, the first practical demonstration of his understanding of the Holy Qur’an and creative consciousness was his maiden book “Selections from the Holy Qur’an” (This book, with addition of lectures of Shaykh-ul-Islam, has now been published in two huge volumes under the title of Qur’anic Philosophy of Revolution). After achieving mental, intellectual and scholarly maturity, he took spiritual allegiance at the hands of Qudwat-ul-Awliya Sayyidina Tahir ‘Ala-ud-Din al-Qadri al-Gilani in 1972 who was a complete reflection of Great Helper Shaykh ‘Abd-ul-Qadir Jilani in physique and character.

He passed the competitive examination of Punjab Public Service Commission in 1974 and started his practical life as a lecturer in Islamic studies. He also practised as an attorney at law from 1976 to 1978 in the District Courts Jhang. Later on when he considered his shifting to Lahore necessary in view of organizational requirements, he remained associated with the Law College (University of the Punjab) as a lecturer of Islamic Law from 1978 to 1983. With the widening network of the mission, he resigned from the teaching profession to pay his undivided attention to it. However, on the insistence of the University, he agreed to serve as visiting Professor for LLM at the University Law College from 1983 to 1988. In addition to that, he also rendered his services in various capacities such as Member Punjab University Senate, Syndicate and Academic Council, advisor to Federal Shariah Court of Pakistan, Supreme Court of Pakistan and as an expert in the National Committee for Syllabus.

Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri had set the revival and spread of Islam as the purpose of his life from the very beginning. That is why he spent every moment of his life purposefully and constructively. The platform of youth by the name of ‘Mahaz-e-Hurriyat’ that he set up at the age of 24 in order to realize his dream of renaissance of Islam became the seat of learning and training of the Muslims of the entire world in the form of Minhaj-ul-Quran International. He also played effective and full role in the ‘Nizam Mustafa Movement’ in 1978. He also authored his first book on the topic of Nizam Mustafa: a Revolutionizing Message. In 1980, he launched his fortnightly lectures on Qur’an at the Shadman Colony Lahore. He formally founded Minhaj-ul-Quran International on October 17, 1980 and it was from its platform that he organized his organizational activities gradually. His lectures on the Holy Qur’an were also started at Islamabad and Karachi after Lahore under the banner of Minhaj-ul-Quran International. In 1983, he started his weekly lectures on Pakistan Television by the name of “Fahm-ul-Qur’an”. This program was the most successful and interesting program through which his introduction spread to every nook and corner of the country. Later on, his lectures and speeches started taking place in the foreign countries. He delivered hundreds of speeches on different topics abroad especially in the European countries. He also kept giving thoughtful lectures from time to time on diverse contemporary and intellectual topics in a number of universities of the European countries including America, Canada and Great Britain. These lectures are also telecast on different TV channels in the world today. They have also been printed in form of book.

Owing to his expertise on the modern and contemporary sciences, he undertook a comprehensive translation of the Holy Qur’an by the name of Irfan-ul-Qur’an, which encompasses scholarly, literary, intellectual and scientific aspects and is more easily understandable than the various Qur’anic translations done so far. It is also a beautiful manifestation of respect for Allah and His Prophet (saw). His historic, constructive work on interpretation of the Holy Qur’an and Hadith is yet another feather in his cap. He has embarked on the task of redesigning the entire collection of Hadith in accordance with new and contemporary demands and this series based on 20 huge volumes will be a valuable treasure for the new generations. His books al-Minhaj-us-Sawi and Jami‘-us-Sunnah on science of Hadith are links in the same chain. Besides this, he established the high status of Imam Abu Hanifa in the principles of Hadith with scholarly arguments and wrote down a book in three volumes. He is also the author of the voluminous book entitled Sirat-ur-Rasul (saw) written on the life of the Prophet in Urdu language. In addition to that, his more than three hundred books on politics, sociology, spiritualism and science are matchless intellectual accomplishment.

Along with the above-mentioned efforts, Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri enjoys the rare honour of organizing the largest private network in the field of education in Pakistan. One chartered university, a number of colleges and 572 schools have been established under this educational plan. He is also the chairman of the Board of Governors of Minhaj University (chartered by the Govt. of the Punjab). In these institutions, the youth are being imparted moral and intellectual education of high standard through a blend of modern and ancient sciences on comparatively cheaper rates.

He established Pakistan Awami Tehreek (Pakistan Peoples’ Movement) for the promotion of healthy political and democratic culture in the country, establishment of world peace and projection of principle-based political traditions. He has also been the Chairman of Pakistan Awami Ittihad, a grand opposition alliance of 19 national political and religious parties (including Pakistan Peoples’ Party) in 1997. He also got elected to the National Assembly on the same platform of PAT in the elections 2002. But he resigned from his seat as a protest against the unconstitutional and undemocratic steps of Pakistani leadership in October 2004. He has also served as Secretary-General of Aalami Ittehad al-Islami and vice-president of a representative organization of the Islamic world al-Mu‘tamar al-Aalami al-Islami. He also made extensive efforts for achieving harmony and reconciliation among the opposing sects and took practical steps for replacing their rivalries into mutual friendship. He always raised his voice for the rights of the minorities for improving mutual relations among the communities based on tolerance, inter-faith harmony and co-existence. He gathered all the minorities of Pakistan on the platform of Pakistan Awami Tehreek in this regard. He also set up Muslim-Christian Dialogue Forum as an expression of solidarity with the Christian community in particular.

He has also founded an international non-governmental organization by the name of Minhaj Welfare Foundation for the welfare of the poor and downtrodden sections of society. Welfare activities are organized under MWF not only for Pakistan but also for foreign countries. Minhaj Welfare Foundation has spent millions of rupees on the rehabilitation of the displaced people hit by natural disasters like earthquake and Tsunami etc.

He has also established following forums under Minhaj-ul-Quran International in order to unite people at its platform. Their names are given here below:

1. Minhaj-ul-Quran Ulama Council
2. Minhaj-ul-Quran Women League
3. Minhaj-ul-Quran Youth League
4. Mustafvi Students Movement
5. Pakistan Awami Tehreek
6. Pakistani Lawyers Movement
7. Minhaj Welfare Foundation
8. Muslim-Christian Dialogue Forum
9. Council of Muslim Engineers and Technologists

Minhaj-ul-Quran International, which is the champion of revival of Islam, unity of Umma and awakening, has its network in more than 80 countries and seven continents of the world.

The books of Shaykh-ul-Islam are also passing through various phases of translation into other regional and international languages in addition to Urdu, English and Arabic. He is the pioneering personality who has put the modern means of communication into use. The audio and video recording of his speeches has continued since the beginning. This was the time when a good number of religious scholars declared the video forbidden. His more than five thousand lectures and speeches on hundreds of topics are available on CDs, DVDs, and VCDs, which are the best means of propagation of message of Islam throughout the world. He is the only personality in the modern history whose treasure of speeches is available.

The multi-dimensional social efforts for human welfare and matchless achievements of Shaykh-ul-Islam especially in the field of research and writing have been acknowledged at the global level. He is, no doubt, international ambassador of peace, revivalist of Islam and wisdom of contemporary times. He is not merely an individual, rather a beacon of light and harbinger of the bright future of Muslim Umma.