Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri has said that the Islamic state had reached the lands of Asia, Africa and Europe till the end of the 1st Hegira and Islamic culture was dominant in the entire world. The companions of the Holy Prophet (SAW) had stunned the world with their extraordinary and multiple capabilities in their different roles such as that of philosophers, scientists, law experts, interpreters, and military commanders. The entire world stood to benefit from these personages. The reference of this glorious chapter of Islamic history as the “Dark Age” by the orientalists only smacks of bias and prejudice against Islam.

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri expressed these views in his speech to the senior students of the Minhaj University through video conferencing today. He said that the Companions had reached Sindh and Balochistan, whereas Muslims had been able to establish military cantonments in Spain during the day of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th and 16th Hegira. He said that information contained in the text books about the arrival of Islam in these areas in the 93rd and 94th Hegira with the arrival of Muhammad Bin Qasim and Tariq Bin Ziyad was wrong. The fact of the matter is that Islamic culture and civilization had reached these regions through Companions 80 years ago than the actual arrival of these commanders.

Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that it was typical of the non-Muslim orientalists to reject the qualities, services and contributions of the Islamic civilization. This explains why they remain bent on presenting a disfigured picture of Islam in the world by quoting its teachings out of context due to their prejudiced mentality. He said that it was a matter of immense misfortune that some of our own so-called researchers and scholars were expressing the similar views about Islam and its teachings on TV channels by taking a leaf from the book of the non-Muslim orientalists. Such an attitude was causing the alienation of the Muslim youth from Islam.

He said that we needed to see through the game plan of the so-called scholars and authorities on Islam who knowingly wanted to portray Islam in a manner as to reject all of its contributions with a view to defaming the religion and making its followers unsure of the relevance of their religion. He said that the idea behind this relentless campaign was to prove that Islam does not have answer to the contemporary questions and problems and that it was an outdated religion. He said that the non-Muslim scholars go to the extent of saying that Islam borrowed its jurisprudence from Greece and the Islamic spiritualism is a modified version of the Hindu and Christian spiritualisms.

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri said that these conspiracies against Islam could only be exposed and responded to through coupling of knowledge with action and research. He instructed the students to realize their responsibilities in that regard and devote themselves wholeheartedly to learning knowledge.