Forgiveness, not revenge, will rid Pakistan of crises: Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri

In an interview with a private TV channel, Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, the founder and patron-in-chief of Minhaj-ul-Quran International, has said that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) began the golden era of Islam by forgiving his worst enemies at the conquest of Makkah. He suggested that if Pakistan is to overcome its current crises, people must forgive each other. He emphasized that if everyone is judged by their faults, no one will be found 100% faultless. No one can claim to have always stayed within their limits; therefore, everyone should forgive each other and forgive Pakistan as well, he suggested.

Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri stated that he has retired from politics and has no intention of returning, adding that he is focusing all his attention on academic and research work. He stressed that stability can only be achieved by abandoning revenge. He said that debates over Form 45 and Form 47 will lead nowhere and have brought the mental state of the youth to a point where they are starting to question the decisions made in 1947. Both the constitution and the law are missing and need to be restored.

He asserted that personal ego should not be bigger than the country's safety. Pakistan is not currently threatened by an external war, yet every segment of society is in a state of conflict. He urged people to cool their anger, listen to and understand each other, and make way for one another. Stability and survival, he said, lie in the rule of the constitution and the supremacy of the law. He called for a fair re-determination of everyone's limits.

Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri reiterated that he has clarified multiple times that before the sit-in of 2024, he did not have any meeting with General Zaheer-ul-Islam or any other general. He further mentioned that the FIR for the Model Town incident was registered on General Raheel Sharif's instructions, as the Sharif brothers did not allow the FIR to be registered despite court orders. General Raheel Sharif met with them at Nawaz Sharif's request.

Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri was in Canada when the then-government attacked his home in Lahore, resulting in the martyrdom of 14 workers and severe injury to 100 others. Even after ten years, justice was still elusive.