Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri has spent his life in indefatigable efforts to counter every kind of extremism and promote peace and harmony amongst communities. His message on human rights, peace, tolerance, integration and socioeconomic progress reached around the globe in every country from Australia and New Zealand to the US and Canada through Europe and Asia.
The past two decades have seen that the evil of terrorism has not only undermined Pakistan but world peace also. The poor law and order situation has shaken the very existence of the state and severely damaged state structure. In reality, terrorism became a serious threat to state stability. In order to eradicate terrorism, the battle to safeguard the state was fought on two fronts: The first on ground and the second on the intellectual front. The state armies fight the battle on ground to eradicate armed struggle, whereas on the intellectual front, the intellectuals and scholars fight an intellectual battle against terrorism and terrorists. Unfortunately, on the intellectual front not a single individual, organization or state from the Muslim world including Pakistan and from the rest of the world was able to present a comprehensive peace narrative. By the will of Allah, Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri only fulfilled this duty; nobody else fought this battle on the intellectual front.
During this period, there were certainly efforts at the state level to gather religious scholars together to reject the evil of terrorism and try to present them on one page. However, in practice, the authentic narrative of Islam against terrorism was not provided. Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri in fact provided it. In order to rebut the narrative of the terrorists he provided a counter narrative of peace. In order to save states, he launched a 600-page extensive fatwa and presented the authentic peace narrative of Islam to the whole world. This peace narrative, in reality, aimed at the protection of humanity and stability of state narrative. Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri did not stop at issuing the fatwa alone, he also launched a 40-book promotion of peace and counter-terrorism curriculum.
On the one hand, the state armies and security agencies fought against terrorism while Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri gave complete conceptual clarity to the state armies as well as intellectuals so that they may, without any ifs and buts, destroy the terrorists who apparently raise the slogan of Allahu Akbar—Allah is the Greatest. The reason being that in Muslim countries, their armed forces were in two minds on whether to launch military action against those who raise the slogans of Allahu Akbar, Qur’an and Islam. The Muslim soldiers fighting on the ground received conceptual clarity and strength and certitude from the narrative provided by Shaykh-ul-Islam because of which they were able to fight the war with courage, clarity and self-sacrifice. He not only rendered a great service to save the state of Pakistan but also the states of the Muslim and Western world. This rebutted the terrorist narrative with the peace narrative being accepted throughout the world.
Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri’s services for humanity on state and international level were recognized by states all over the world. For example:
1. In America, in a book in the educational curriculum Think World Religions, the narrative of Osama Bin Laden was presented and then rebutted by the narrative given by Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. In like manner, a textbook in America has acknowledged the effort of Shaykh-ul-Islam at the state level.
2. In the same way, in April 2019, the concluding resolution of the OIC conference held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, appreciated the peace narrative given by Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri against extremism and terrorism. This is international recognition of his services rendered for the protection of humanity and world states.
3. In the same way, Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI) held a Peace for Humanity Conference which was attended by scholars, important personalities and followers of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and other religions. The London Declaration was launched at the conclusion of the conference by the leaders and representatives of the world’s six largest religions. It contained 24 articles on the promotion of world peace and against extremism, radicalization and terrorism. The Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, Shaykh al-Azhar Prof Dr Muhammad Ahmed al-Tayyeb, Secretary-General OIC Dr Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Arch Bishop of Canterbury Dr Rowen Williams amongst many other distinguished personalities from around the world sent their written and video messages of support for the conference.
4. The Defence Committee of the British House of Commons in its report acknowledged Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri’s intellectual and practical efforts to fight terrorism and establish peace. The report—issued on May 15, 2003—is part of the proceedings of the House of Commons. Three paragraphs of the report made a detailed acknowledgement of the services rendered by Shaykh-ul-Islam.
5. Other than the above, many internationally renowned personalities and media channels have acknowledged in clear terms the global efforts rendered by Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. International newspapers and magazines appreciated the efforts of Shaykh-ul-Islam on their front pages. For example, CNN, BBC, Fox News, Foreign Policy, Voice of America, Khaleej Times, The Middle East, Asharq Al-Awsat, Fareed Zakaria, Christiane Amanpour etc., gave it extensive coverage and applauded it a lot.
6. The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has formally granted a ‘Special Consultative Status’ to Minhaj-ul-Quran International for its services rendered for the promotion of Islam. It appreciated the efforts of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri in establishing peace, unity, inter- and intra-faith harmony, human rights, the promotion of education, raising awareness against extremism and terrorism from this platform.
7. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has also recognized the efforts of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri and made him a constituent member.
8. Shaykh-ul-Islam attended and addressed the Istanbul Peace Conference in Turkey. The conference was co-hosted by the British Commonwealth and the OIC. The theme of the conference was ‘Afghanistan’s Peaceful Future’. Eighteen organizations belonging to the Afghanistan Taliban and many scholars were invited. In the 3-day conference, along with lectures by Shaykh-ul-Islam, he held many sessions lasting many hours with the Afghan scholars and the Taliban in which they put questions to him and he provided satisfactory answers. The aim of the sessions was to change their mind-set according to the changing world and contemporary needs and that they receive an authority in this regard.
9. Shaykh-ul-Islam was especially invited to the joint meeting of US-Islamic World Forum and OIC at the Brookings Institute, Washington DC. He gave a comprehensive briefing to the world leaders on the causes of terrorism and its prevention and the peaceful teachings of Islam in this regard. The conference was attended by Prof Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu (Secretary-General of the OIC), Ahmed bin Abdullah Mahmoud (Foreign Minister of Qatar), US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, US Senator John Kerry and Senator John McCain. Ibrahim Kalin (Special Adviser to the Prime Minister of Turkey), Rashid Hussein (Special Representative of the President of the United States Barack Obama), Shahid Malik (Former British Minister) and delegations from 30 Islamic countries, think tanks, politicians and policy makers also attended.
10. Professor John L. Esposito who is considered as an authority on Islam in the West invited Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri to speak at the top political university in America, the George Town University, Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. The conference was also attended by professors, doctors and policy makers along with representatives of the US army.
11. The American Institute of Peace also invited Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri to deliver a lecture. This was a significant evidence of the victory of his peace narrative and the defeat of the extremist and terrorist narrative.
12. New South Wales Parliament invited Shaykh-ul-Islam. So Shaykh-ul-Islam addressed the New South Wales Parliament in Australia on the topic ‘Causes and Prevention of Terrorism and Extremism’ on July 11, 2011. Australian government ministers, politicians and important religious and social figures were amongst the audience.
Thus, organizations such as the UN, OIC and WEF that represent the nations of the world have acknowledged and appreciated the profound intellectual efforts of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, because he has played a vital role in protecting the state stability and has fought an intellectual battle against extremists and terrorists.
13. The extensive Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings by Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri has been launched in the UK, USA, Denmark, Norway, France, India and Pakistan amongst many other countries. The translations of this book in many languages have been published, which is a clear evidence of its popularity and legitimacy.
14. The Islamic Research Academy of Jamia al-Azhar Egypt wrote a detailed description of the Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings and verified its contents.
15. AcademicInfluence.com placed this historic FATWA at number 2 in the list of 25 most influential books on law and legal studies during the past decade—2011–2020. Academic Influence, a leading international platform that has academics and data scientists working together to provide objective influence-based rankings of people, programmes and institutions, finds that the Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings by Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri is the second most influential book on legal studies during 2011–2020.
The platform has prepared a list of 25 Most Influential Books in Law/Legal Studies during 2011–2020 measuring their influence on the basis of the number of references it has received both in academic literature and popular media. The list also includes several perennial classics that remain influential today.
The book ranked the first in the list was Commentaries on the Laws of England, by William Blackstone written in 1765–1770, and third The Federalist: A Collection of Essays Written in Favour of the New Constitution, as Agreed upon by the Federal Convention, by Alexander Hamilton in 1788. Therefore, as the living author, Shaykh-ul-Islam’s book is ranked number 1.
16. The launch of Shaykh-ul-Islam’s 40-book ‘Islamic Curriculum on Peace and Counter-Terrorism’ was held in London, Islamabad and many countries in Europe.
17. Minhaj-ul-Quran International has organised a huge number of peace conferences, seminars, peace walks and rallies and dialogue sessions across the world. MQI has established many peace and reconciliation forums at various places. The British Institute of Peace (BIP) is one of them, it is working for the promotion of peace and to counter the extremism, radicalism and terrorism. MQI is also organising the annual Al-Hidayah Anti-Extremism Youth Camps in the UK, Europe and Canada since the last two decades. These are unique and unprecedented in their nature. Shaykh-ul-Islam has addressed hundreds of peace conferences, international seminars, think tanks, question-answer sessions, interviews and delivered lectures in the UK, Europe, America, Canada, Australia, Asia, etc. This is the reason that many organisations awarded medals to him in recognition of his incontrovertible peace services worldwide and he is unanimously referred to as the Global Ambassador of Peace.
The scope of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri’s services is not limited to religious, moral or intellectual fields but also covers national, state and international arenas. He has rendered efforts at the national level, at the Islamic world level and the level of humanity. No doubt Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri is not one individual, but his all-encompassing and diverse services are equal to that of a state.