Eras are marked by the personalities born in it. The image and character of a nation are largely perceived through the accomplishments of its prominent personalities. Pakistan has a very rich history of remarkable leaders and personalities serving the nation through their work in diverse fields of life. Marked by extraordinary and multidimensional abilities and holding international recognition as an influential Islamic leader, a phenomenal personality of this time is Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul Qadri. Born on the 19th of February 1951 in the Jhang district of Pakistan, he is the eldest child of Dr. Farid-ud-Din Qadri. Dr. Farid-ud-din Qadri was an adept medical doctor by profession, a renowned scholar with exceptional knowledge, a proficient speaker, and a saintly personality of his time. He had an intrinsic inclination towards spirituality and seeking knowledge that led him to seek guidance from various renowned scholars and Sufis of Arab countries, especially Baghdad and Madina. Not only spiritually but he was a famous and respected member of his community who was secretly providing financial support to various poor families. The impact of his personality reflected in his home environment that shaped the early life of Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul Qadri as an entirely different child who was a regular tahjjud prayer from a very young age. The gentle training, attention, and efforts of his father were a significant factor in enhancing and burnishing his inborn interests and abilities.
The process of informal education had already started at his home through the company of his father before he started his academic education. He received his initial Islamic education from his father. The book library of his father was his favourite spot at home where he was mostly found. In this way, he naturally developed the habit of book reading and a love for knowledge that can be witnessed today through the more than a thousand books he had authored till now. However, he started his educational career in 1955 from a missionary school system where he soon attracted the attention of his teachers as an extraordinary child both in curricular and extracurricular. Owing to his innate inclination towards spirituality and Sufism, he started his Islamic education in 1962. Thus he made his life a beautiful balance of secular and Islamic education with wakeful nights spent in the thirst to seek closeness of Allah Almighty. With time, his desire to detach himself from worldly distractions was mounting high, thus, he started spending most of his time alone in the worship and dhikr of Allah. However, his father never allowed him to completely abandon worldly life. During his studies at government college Faisalabad, he used to travel 160 miles daily to get back home as he did not want to disrupt his Islamic education and spiritual training with his father at home. His day starting from 3 am with tahajjud and fajr prayer, traveling to and back from college, evening spiritual sessions with his father, and studying till 11 p.m. was a restless routine. However, his urge and motivation to seek knowledge and worship never fainted a slight rather he was happy and contented with his routine to spend more and more time drowning in the ocean of knowledge. Continuing this routine, he got enrolled in Punjab university where he did a master's in Islamic studies in 1972 and received a gold medal. In 1974, he earned his degree in LLB and started his professional career as a lawyer in the district courts of jhang. However, later in 1978 he moved to Lahore and joined the Punjab University as the lecturer of law. Later on, he completed his Ph.D. in Islamic law from the same university.
In a very short time, he appeared as one of the most prominent Islamic jurists and scholars of Pakistan. During his professional career, he also served as a Jurist Consult on Islamic law for the Supreme Court and the Federal Shari‘a Court of Pakistan. He also worked as a specialist adviser on Islamic curricula for the Federal Ministry of Education of Pakistan at various times between 1983 and 1987. During his tenure, several historical judgments in the legal and constitutional history of Pakistan were passed by the Federal Shariʻa Court.
The steadily distressing situation of Pakistan and Muslim ummah had always been a matter of great concern for him. He always dreamed of reviving the lost status of Muslim ummah and changing the fate of Pakistan by uprooting the corrupt system through the green revolution. Considering the obvious need for time, Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul Qadri inaugurated Minhaj-ul-Qur’an in 1981, headquartered in Lahore, Punjab. Its foundation has been laid on religious moderation, good and effective education, harmony and inter-faith dialogue, and a balanced view of Islam allegedly based on Sufi practices.
He also established different forums of Minhaj-ul-Qur’an including Minhaj-ul-Qur’an Ulama Council, Minhaj-ul-Qur’an Welfare Foundation, Minhaj-ul-Qur’an Women League, Minhaj Youth League, Mustafavi Students Movements, and Muslim Christian Dialogue Forum. In less than 30 years, Minhaj-ul-Qur’an expanded its work in more than 90 countries. It is probably one of the largest non-governmental organizations with such a widespread of activities across the globe.
Among his noteworthy accomplishments, his efforts to promote the peaceful image of Islam and Muslims during the extreme wave of terrorism across the world are unparallel. In this struggle, Dr. Tahir ul Qadri released a historic 600-page long fatwa (a religious decree) on March 2, 2010, on suicide bombings. He cited references from the Holy Qur'an, Hadith, and text from various Islamic scholars to highlight the importance of peace in Islam. This fatwa aimed to promote Islam as a religion of peace and declared that all kinds of terrorist activities are strictly prohibited in Islam. It also clarified that the ideology of Islam has no association with terrorism.
On 24th Sep 2011, Minhaj-ul-Quran organized the ‘Peace for Humanity Conference’ at Wembley Arena, where representatives of different religions, politicians, scholars, and about twelve-thousand participants gathered from all around the world. All the presenters released a peace declaration on behalf of their community under the supervision of Dr. Qadri. It demonstrates the compliance of all worldly leaders with the vision of Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul Qadri on inter-faith harmony, love, tolerance, and peace.
Currently, Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul Qadri is internationally known as a great author, Islamic scholar, intellectual leader, influential speaker, and researcher with a dynamic approach and diverse work in various disciplines. He has authored more than 1000 books of which more than 600 books are already published, and hundreds are in the process of publishing. He wrote books on a wide range of topics, including various aspects of Islam, modern science, economics, law, politics, human rights, and other societal issues. His work on Qur’anic Tafsir, the compilation of Hadith, and the science of Hadith made a significant contribution in the revival of the Islamic literature and teachings, according to the contemporary requirements and challenges that were a dire need of time. Apart from this work, he has delivered more than 8000 lectures on a wide range of diverse topics all around the world. For this purpose, he frequently travels around the world and delivers lectures to various institutes, universities, and conferences. In acknowledgment of his incredible efforts and accomplishments, he has received several national and international awards.
As the whole sum of discussion, it seems impossible to describe the personality and achievements of Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul Qadri as currently, twelve PhDs are going-on on the works of Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul Qadri that is a remarkable acknowledgment and tribute to his work.