Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri
Received following from some who knows TUQ: Draw your own conclusion
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Saddened by the doubts, cynicism and outright hate seen on media and most of my friends updates, am compelled to write this and clear at least some of the mystery surrounding Dr Tahir ul Qadri, whom my family has known personally since I was a child.
First and foremost Dr Qadri, is the mureed (spiritual disciple) of His Holiness Shaikh Tahir Allaud-din-Qadri of Baghad, who moved to Pakistan and settled first in Faisalabad and then Karachi. The house on sunset boulevard on the left with the green dome when ur headed towards Phase 2 is his. Agreed upon by all the Sufi Saints and Shaikhs, including those of Syria, Egypt and Pakistan, Syedna Tahir Allaud-din-Qadri was the "Qutb" or Spiritual Pole of his age, the Grand Sheikh, heir of the Prophet's mystic bounty. Many consider Dr Tahir ul Qadri to be his greatest student and his miracle.
Dr Tahir ul Qadri denied his Sheikh's many requests to grant him "Khilafat", (spiritual inheritance of sainthood) as he had taken an oath never to become a "Pir" (spiritual master) himself.
Dr Tahir ul Qadri belongs to the Silsila (Spiritual chain) Qadriya named after the Grand Sheikh Ghaus ul Azam Hazrat Abdul Qadir al Jilani of Baghdad.
The white headgear and the long garb he has worn since the last 10-15 years is the traditional clothing of the Sheikhs of this silsila………….to answer the tweet--"where does he get his wardrobe!"
He is not a Mullah nor is he a Maulana, as both are, contrary to popular belief, not just labels for bearded fundamentalist types but academic ranks. He is schooled from Sacred Heart in Jhang……which is a convent!!! (Surprise surprise!!!) He has an LLB and a Phd in Islamic Jurisprudence from University of Punjab where he soon after became a professor.
One of his first brushes with controversy were on a case of Islamic ruling where he challenged the greatest books and masters of Fiqh (Islamic Law) and declared that a murdered woman's blood money could not be less than that of a man. He was quickly branded "modern, heretic, secular" by the "Mullah's" and Scholars.
The Tehreek e Minhaj ul Quran movement, with its centre in Lahore is a global organization with centers in more than 90 countries and millions of members……..including myself and my mom.
What we may not have heard about Minhaj ul Quran…….because all such names are pronounced "Al Qaida" in our vast vocab:
* TMQ (Tehreek e Minhaj ul Quran) has set up 572 schools including 72 colleges all over Pakistan with 120,000 students. These are schools NOT Madrassa's.
* 3000 Libraries including books, CD's and DVD's
* Set up Minhaj ul Quran Women's league.
* Set up Itekaf City………where 40,000 people gather for Itekaf in the last 10 days of Ramadan and have been for the last 30 years. I have been there twice, it was awesome!
* Annual gathering at Minar e Pakistan for 12th of Rabbi Awwal for close to 30 years………if u think his jalsa was huge, u've never attended that party! I have.
* Annual gathering of Shab e Qadr, 27th of Ramadan, one of the largest congregational prayers after Hajj and the Tableeghi love parade. (PS: he is not tableeghi, more on that later!)
* Minhaj ul Quran University in Lahore, which includes departments of Mathematics, Commerce and Management, Social Science and Humanities, Information Technology and Computer Science, English, Urdu, Arabic and Islam. Second campus in Karachi. Dr Qadri is the Chancellor.
*Minhaj Welfare Organization in 90 countries focusing on disaster relief, poverty relief and aiding blind and disabled people and raising scholarships for under privileged students.
*102 free clinics and blood banks across Pakistan
*Collective Marriage ceremony system, to aid poor people who cannot afford to get their children, mostly daughters married due to our cruel dowry system.
*1500 free water pumps to get clean water to rural areas across Pakistan
*System of FREE LEGAL ASSISTANCE for Abused and exploited women which attempts to get them through the police and legal system safely, raising awareness about rights and atrocities against women.
*Dr Qadri himself has authored close to 1000 books, 400 in publication in various languages spanning, Sufism, Islamic Law, Social system, Science, Evolution, Human Rights, Philosophy, Translation and Tafsir of Quran (14 Volumes) , Hadith and science of Hadith (24 Volumes), Life of the Holy Prophet (14 Volumes, largest ever!), History of Islam, Constitutional Theory and more.
*Monumental 600 page Fatwa on Suicide Bombings……THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD which took him global. Search for his fatwa related interviews on BBC, CNN, Skynews. This work also led to him being appointed Advisor to counter Radicalism to the Govt. of Britian.
*Conference for Peace---Wembley Arena, London. Interfaith event representing all faiths where Jews, Christians, Hindu's, Buddhists not only came but also did Zikr and mid Zikr were asked to pray in their own ways to prove that Islam was not intolerant towards other beliefs as marketed by post 911 global media, Islamophobes and our own "mullah crew".
He is also the only Islamic Scholar to have defended Salman Taseer's murder and declared that the killer be tried for murder. There is a 1400 hour speech on this very case and the forged out of context blasphemy law clips so popular and quickly shared these days are from this speech. Please see the whole thing to get the correct perspective, and stop ignorantly promoting hate and cynicism towards a person who is the most liberal, broad minded and academically gifted scholar to have perhaps ever graced our nation.
For a commentary on his now famous dreams……..again, please Google for the commentary, perspective and analogy before buying into the same media which you proclaim to be lies all year around. Read about the concept and interpretation of dreams in Hadith and the writings of mystics.
Dr Tahir ul Qadri is not a Saudi inspired Wahabi, Salafi, Deobandi, Tableeghi extremist. I hate to use these labels but unfortunately modern day Islam has more genres than House music! Neither is he a hard line barelvi, which is the other extreme of the Sunni sect.
He always has a Shia scholar accompany him everywhere and is one of the very very few Sunni Scholars to be loved, respected, admired and invited to speak at Majlis by the Shia community.
He is one of the few people, especially in Pakistan, who speaks openly condemning the Khwariji Movement and school of extremist Islam which has so successfully infiltrated, corrupted, hijacked and divided our beliefs.
Research!! Dr Qadri is the foremost scholar working and correcting Sunni/Shia misunderstandings.
So to answer the FB update from the day of his first jalsa: Where did TQ come from and how did he mobilize so many people so soon ?…………..it took him 30 years of academic service, hundreds of thousands of speeches, 1000 books and lectures all over the world, teaching 2 generations of Muslims globally.
What you missed were his 30 years of serving a subject that did not interest you. Neither were you probably aware that his lectures have been broadcast, (recorded and live) on PTV since the early 80's (and then banned by Zia), twice everyday on QTV, ATV, ARY, live broadcasts of all his major annual gatherings, plus huge amounts of media coverage from Europe and most superstar news chans.
But we don't watch or listen to bearded people.
But it did interest millions in the world. Some of whom have traveled from all over to be with him in his march, donated millions to this cause,and paid for his security and bullet proof vehicle because it matters to THEM. And Pakistan matters to them and the future of Pakistan matters to them. And maybe they could afford the media campaign and security measures. It doesn't have to be funded by an agenda or agency.
But yeah…..he didn't win a world cup and he has a beard. And he came from nowhere, speaks weird English (coz he's from JHANG!!), wears a white hat, cries during his speeches (which are delivered with a bit more passion and rage than we are used to), speaks often about the Prophet(SAWW) and his Ahle Bayt, brings his whole family to the march, and has thousands of people standing with him in bitter cold, demanding everything which most of us would agree with.
Not a single one of them an extremist, neither are any Islamic political leaders, organizations or scholars supporting him.(which is awesome!!!)
He is not fighting democracy, he is fighting a failed system, very bravely, and trying to restore true democracy. I do not doubt his intention or that of those who actually made his march happen, the youth, the men, the women.
The responsible method would be to do a few minutes of google and use your own intellect to sift through the truth and propaganda. Then maybe tally his ideology, track record and achievements with that of those who have had power again and again in our democratic system for decades, and draw your own conclusions, hopefully based on facts rather than indoctrination, prejudice, and media propaganda.
Dr Tahir ul Qadri is not a Mullah. But he is misunderstood, misquoted and was largely ignored.
Our music, art, fashion, lifestyle choices and ideas are not under threat by him or his movement. But our rights, freedom, safety and future are, under the system which he is fighting against.
To the marchers he is a leader, reformer, hope. To the Sufis and faqirs, he is something else entirely.
May the next couple of days be safe and historic for our country. May truth and bravery succeed and may we all unite for Pakistan. Under the banner of truth, not lies and propaganda.
May Allah protect us all from liars, thugs, thieves of corruption and injustice and may our country finally attain the greatness which our nation deserves.
Wishing Pakistan an awesome future.
