Preacher a voice for moderation

Luke Baker, Reuters

This article is taken from http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1879055

COVENTRY, England -- Like any rousing Islamic preacher, Muhammed Tahir ul-Qadri's voice rises to a shout and his index finger jabs as he hammers home a point.

But rather than angry calls for jihad or a vitriolic denunciation of the West and its aggressions against Islam, Mr. Qadri's message, equally forcefully delivered, is about moderation, peace, inclusion and understanding.

Addressing a packed auditorium from a raised platform, his words beamed on to large screen behind him, more than 1,000 young followers hang on his every word, even as his lecture moves into its fourth uninterrupted hour.

"Islam is not a religion of seclusion, it is not a religion of detachment," he thunders from the dais, occasionally pausing to wipe the sweat from his brow or adjust his spectacles.

"Any killer of a non-Muslim citizen, he will go to hell. Those who are committing terroristic acts from Pakistan and Afghanistan and claiming it is jihad - they do not know what jihad is. It is forbidden. There will not be janna [paradise] for them," he hollers, to shouts of approval.

Mr. Qadri, 58, who was born in Pakistan but now lives in Canada, is a renowned scholar of Sufism, a long tradition within Islam that focuses on spirituality, emphasizing peace and moderation.

The author of more than 400 books on Islamic scholarship and law, he travels the world delivering sermons to Sufis, while his organization, called Minhaj ul-Quran, has spread to 80 countries, from Greece to Fiji, since its founding in 1981.

In Britain, he is the main draw at a three-day retreat for young Muslims called Al Hidayah (Guidance), which over the past five years has grown into the biggest spiritual camp of its kind, with more than 1,200 attendees from a dozen countries.

Mr. Qadri believes camps such as his, which attract teenagers - girls and boys wearing traditional dress who sit separately in the auditorium - as well as their parents and children as young as six, can play a part in combating extremism within Islam.

For Britain, that has been particularly important since 2003, when the country joined the invasion of Iraq, and 2005, when four young British Muslims carried out suicide bombings on the London transport network, killing 52 people.

"I feel it is my duty to save the younger generation from radicalization," Mr. Qadri said quietly over lunch on Sunday, shortly after finishing the second of several lectures and question-and-answer sessions, which concluded yesterday.

"We need to prepare them mentally and academically, intellectually and spiritually, against extremist tendencies and radical and terrorist attitudes. We need to provide them with an awakening of the true picture of Islam."

Around the world, and particularly in the United States, there has been a steady increase in adherence to Sufism in the past decade. Governments keen to tackle the spread of more radical branches of Islam in their countries have worked with Sufi scholars and tried to emphasize their teachings.

In Britain, home to about 1.7 million Muslims, mostly from Pakistan, the government at first worked to promote Sufism, supporting the creation in 2006 of the Sufi Muslim Council, a group that took a strong stand against Islamist extremism.

But since then, it has moved away from explicit support, saying that working via the Sufi community - whose exact number in Britain is not known - is just one element of a wider approach to countering Islamic radicalism.

"It's part of a broader engagement. We don't want to isolate any one group over another," a government spokeswoman said.

Supporters of Mr. Qadri, though, are adamant about the benefits of his teachings, with students coming from as far as Denmark and Canada to hear him speak during the three-day retreat.

Women in particular like his emphasis on female equality within Islam, an element not always touched on by other Islamic scholars.

"What he says is mind-opening, it makes you feel good as a woman," said Sofia Saeed, 27, a legal assistant who travelled from Manchester to attend the retreat with a friend.

"There's no discrimination here. It makes you feel like a stronger believer, a stronger person," she said, comfortably wearing both designer sunglasses and her full hijab head covering.

Mr. Qadri, a former minister in Pakistan and close associate of Benazir Bhutto, the assassinated former prime minister, does not believe his teachings can change radical minds overnight, but he is a believer that intellect can ultimately defeat extremism.

"If the terrorists are 10 people and the peaceful are 1,000, then they are more powerful than us with their arms, even if we are 5,000," he said.

"But the point is that we have to make the 5,000 more powerful not with arms, but by the communication of the right message of Islam."

More Links

  1. Google News, UK
    'Ideas are the best' weapons
    'Muslim Camp' draws UK teens to combat extremism
    Kamp Muslim Inggris Melawan Ekstrimis
  2. Yahoo News
    "Muslim Camp" draws teens to combat extremism

  3. euronews
    “Muslim Camp” draws UK teens to combat extremism
  4. Stv
    "Muslim Camp" draws UK teens to combat extremism
  5. Global Tv . Com
    ‘Muslim Camp' draws U.K. teens to combat extremism
  6. The Star phoenix
    ‘Muslim Camp' draws U.K. teens to combat extremism
  7. Toronto Star
    'Ideas are the best' weapons: Islamic scholar

  8. Canada.com
    Messenger of moderation
    Sufischolar seeks to save young Muslims from radicalization
  9. The Brunei Times
    UK Muslim camp preaches peace

  10. National Post
    Messenger of moderation
  11. National Post
    Preacher a voice for moderation
  12. The Gazette
    ‘Muslim Camp' draws U.K. teens to combat extremism
  13. The Vancouver Sun
    ‘Muslim Camp' draws U.K. teens to combat extremism

  14. The Malaysia Insider
    ‘Muslim Camp’ draws UK teens to combat extremism

  15. Islam Online.net
    UK Sufi Camp Combats Extremism

  16. Republika Online
    Kamp Muslim Inggris Melawan Ekstrimis

  17. Reuters Italia
    Gran Bretagna, "campo islamico" contro estremismo seduce giovani

  18. Reuters India
    'Muslim Camp' draws UK teens to combat extremism

  19. Birmingham Post
    Islamic author denounces terrorism as a cancer in Muslim world

  20. Islam Online
    UK Sufi Camp Combats Extremism

  21. National Post
    Preacher a voice for moderation

  22. Point de Bascule Canada
    GRANDE BRETAGNE - UN IMAM SOUFISTE CANADIEN PRÊCHE UN AUTRE ISLAM À DES MUSULMANS BRITANNIQUES. IL ENSEIGNE L'INCLUSION, LA "SPIRITUALITÉ", LA PAIX ET LA MODÉRATION...

  23. The Province
    ‘Muslim Camp' draws U.K. teens to combat extremism
  24. Euro News
    “Muslim Camp” draws UK teens to combat extremism
  25. The Windsor Star
    ‘Muslim Camp' draws U.K. teens to combat extremism
  26. IB Times
    "Muslim Camp" draws UK teens to combat extremism
  27. Javno
    `Muslim Camp` Draws UK Teens To Combat Extremism
  28. Aussie Muslims
    'Muslim Camp' draws UK teens to combat extremism
  29. The Revival
    "Muslim Camp" draws UK teens to combat extremism!
  30. NEWS Tin
    "Muslim Camp" draws teens to combat extremism
  31. Yanabi . Com
    "Muslim Camp" draws teens to combat extremism...
  32. Digg
    ‘Muslim Camp’ draws teens to combat extremism
  33. Nicer News
    ‘Muslim Camp’ draws teens to combat extremism
  34. Topix
    'Muslim Camp' draws UK teens to combat extremism
  35. Canada
    ‘Muslim Camp' draws U.K. teens to combat extremism
  36. Leader Post
    ‘Muslim Camp' draws U.K. teens to combat extremism
  37. Best News
    "Muslim Camp" draws UK teens to combat extremism
  38. World Peace
    'Muslim Camp' draws teens to combat extremism
  39. ABC News
    "Muslim Camp" Draws Teens to Combat Extremism
  40. Euro Islam . Info
    ‘Muslim Camp’ draws UK teens to combat extremism
  41. Hizb ut-Tahrir
    "Muslim Camp" draws UK teens to combat extremism
  42. World News
    'Muslim Camp' draws UK teens to combat extremism
  43. Toronto Star
    'Muslim Camp' draws UK teens to combat extremism
  44. The Free Library online
    "Muslim Camp" draws teens to combat extremism
  45. Daily Times
    ‘Muslim Camp’ draws UK teens to combat extremism
  46. Reuters UK
    "Muslim Camp" draws UK teens to combat extremism
  47. Reuters
    "Muslim Camp" draws teens to combat extremism
  48. Canada
    ‘Muslim Camp' draws U.K. teens to combat extremism
  49. The PEW Forum | Religion News
    'Ideas are the best' weapons: Islamic scholar
  50. The Siasat
    'Muslim Camp' draws UK teens to combat extremism
  51. Bay Ledger News Zone
    "Muslim Camp" draws teens to combat extremism
  52. Maryam-blog Blogspot
    ‘MUSLIM CAMP’ DRAWS UK TEENS TO COMBAT EXTREMISM
  53. Talk Islam
    “Muslim Camp” draws teens to combat extremism.
  54. Times of Malta
    Without attacks, Qaeda's roars ring hollow
  55. In Sing
    'Muslim Camp' draws UK teens to combat extremism
  56. msnbc
    'Muslim Camp' draws UK teens to combat extremism
  57. Islam is all about Peace
    Ideas are the best' weapons: Islamic scholar
  58. Sharia Watch UK
    'Muslim Camp' draws UK teens to combat extremism
  59. Muslims in England
    Al-Hidayah 2009

Comments

Top