‘Terrorism has no place in Islam’: Sufi scholar Tahir-ul-Qadri

The Indian Express
23 Feb 2012

New Delhi: Sufi scholar Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri Wednesday said that peace is the source and crux of Islam, and that terrorism has no place in the religion.

Qadri, the Pakistan-based founder of Minhaj-ul-Quran, was delivering a lecture at the India Islamic Centre to mark the launch of his book, ‘Fatwa on terrorism and suicide bombings’.

The book is the English translation of a 600-page fatwa, in Urdu, issued in March 2010. A statement released at the venue described it as, “one of the most extensive Islamic anti-terrorism rulings, an absolute condemnation of terrorism without any excuses or pretexts....”

The Minaj-ul-Quran International is a Lahore-headquartered NGO founded in 1981. According to the organisation’s website, its aims include, “reviving the true values and principles of Islam”.

In his hour-long speech, Qadri sought to separate the usage of the word ‘Islam’ with violence: “...terms like Islamic Terrorism, Islamic Radicalism, Islamic Terrorists have come to be used in common parlance these days... why don’t we talk about Islamic Literature or Islamic Economic Theory? On the other hand, when Islam is used with a word like terrorism, it is implied that the act of terror is Islamic.”

Earlier report

Coming: Pak Islamic scholar who pulls no punches against terror

Pakistani Islamic scholar Tahirul Qadri, who has been facing threats for his condemnation of terrorism by various outfits in Pakistan, including Taliban, is scheduled to visit more than half-a-dozen places across the country from February 25 to March 18 amidst protest by some groups in Gujarat.

Coming to India on an invitation by Karjan-based Minhajul Quran International (India), a branch of the UK-based MQI headed by Qadri himself, the Pakistani academician, who subscribes to Sufi school of Islamic thought, will be specially focussing on anti-terrorism in his lectures.

After launching his programme on February 25 from Karjan, a small town 40 km from Vadodara that has a population of less than one lakh, he will attend functions in Vadodara, Ahmedabad and Bhuj. He will also deliver lectures in Hyderabad, Ajmer, Mumbai, Raipur, and Bengaluru.

In Vadodara, he will address MQI workers at Sayaji Hall on February 27 and religious groups on February 28 and 29 at Tandalja, a Muslim pocket on the outskirts of Vadodara.

Asked about the Qadri’s visit coinciding with February 27, the day Sabarmati Express in Godhra was torched in 2002 triggering riots, MQI (India) president Nad-e-Ali Saiyed said the programme was decided six months ago as these dates were convenient for Qadri.

Saiyed said Qadri had been invited to deliver anti-terror lectures because India was also facing terrorism. “Islam is all for peace. There is no place for terrorism in Islam,” said 50-year-old Saiyed, who has donated 4.5 bighas of his land in Karjan for MQI (India) headquarters.

Saiyed said Qadri’s visit was backed by Muslim Ittehadul Muslimin (MIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi and Chhattisgarh Congress leader Dr Shivnarayan Dwivedi, Gujarat BJP minority cell president Mehboob Bawa, human rights activist Yusuf Sheikh and former Vadodara deputy mayor Chirag Sheikh.

Yusuf Sheikh and Chirag Sheikh, when contacted, said they were supporting Qadri’s programmes because he had taken a stand against terrorism.

“We are supporting Qadri’s visit because he is working for peace and unity, and taken a strong stand against suicide bombings and terrorism,” said Mehboob Bawa. He added that Qadri had earlier delivered lectures condemning terrorism in the UK, US and at the World Economic Forum meet in Davos in the last two years.

Vadodara district in-charge Superintendent of Police S U Pandey said, “We know about his (Qadri’s) visit and working on the security aspect.”

Source : http://www.newageislam.com/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/the-indian-express/%E2%80%98terrorism-has-no-place-in-islam%E2%80%99--sufi-scholar-tahir-ul-qadri/d/6711

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