Historic Fatwa launched in India

On February 22, 2012 (Delhi, India), Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri’s scholarly masterpiece, which has won global acclaim, titled as “Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings” was launched in Islamic Cultural Centre India under the aegis of Minhaj-ul-Quran International, India.

The launching ceremony of the book was attended by distinguished people belonging to various walks of life including former Railways Minister C.K. Jafar Sharif, Chairman of National Commission on Minorities Justice Wajahat Habibullah, Chairman of Delhi Commission on Minorities Safdar H. Khan, former IPS officer Qamar Ahmad, Justice Fakhar-ud-Din, renowned lawyer Mushtaq, Shamshad Kazmi of Iran TV, President of MQI India Syed Nad-e-Ali, Haider Kamal, Salim Amroohi, and Amir Rizwi. Renowned religious scholars, writers, intellectuals, journalists, and lawyers were also in attendance of the programme.

The auditorium was full to its capacity before the arrival of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. The participants gave Shaykh-ul-Islam a standing ovation on his entry into the main hall. The chants of welcome and other slogans reverberated through the air and made the atmosphere electric. It was a spectacular scene when Shaykh-ul-Islam appeared on the main stage. The people’s faces were radiating with happiness and excitement at the sight of a great scholar of his times.

The proceedings of the ceremony got underway with the recitation from the Holy Quran followed by Naat. Delivering his keynote address, Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, who was the guest of honour on the occasion, said that it was wrong to bracket Islam with terrorism. He said that those who sought to establish linkage between terrorism and Islam actually did so out of ignorance of Islamic teachings and their personal prejudices. He said that bringing religion of Islam into disrepute by ascribing terrorism to it was no way to eliminate terrorism. “Such an attitude creates hurdles in the way of efforts to uproot the menace of terrorism and extremism. He who commits terrorism is neither a human being nor a Muslim. These things have nothing to do with Islam” he held.

Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri asked the media not to refer to Islam while reporting on acts and incidents of terrorism. He said that the term ‘terrorism’ must be deleted from the Islamic context and should not be made mention of together with this great religion or any other for that matter as no religion of the world sanctions the use of violence, terrorism or killing.

Throwing light on various examples, he said that the inner change led to the change in one’s outer conduct and attitude. “The literal meaning of Islam is peace and those who embrace this religion from the core of their heart cannot even think of committing such heinous crimes as terrorism and killing of people. Peace is directly linked to Paradise and whatever and whosoever harms peace and security cannot enter Paradise. Such a person is the resident of hell” Shaykh-ul-Islam explained.

Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that the Sufis and spiritualists brought about revolution in the lives of people by purging their hearts of sins and darkness. Likening Islam to a tree, he said that the people exposed to the scorching sun took refuge under this tree. Islam, he said, was another name of peace and whichever part of the world it went, it rendered it into a hub of peace and tranquility.

Dilating upon ‘Iman’, Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that ‘Iman’ was the basis on which one’s belief system was based. He said that his purpose of visiting India was to remove confusion, misperceptions and misunderstandings about Islam and build bridges of trust, harmony and interfaith dialogue. He said that he was making these efforts to spread love among human beings without any discrimination.

The programme concluded with special prayer led by Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. The hundreds of thousands of people including men and women joined him in the tearful prayer for world peace and harmony.