A detailed history of errors by Dr Tahir ul Qadri

Post by Mohammed IbRaHim on Jan 15, 2014 22:09:23 GMT 5.5

A detailed history of errors by Dr Tahir ul Qadri

 "New Heights of Double Standards"

Dr. Tahir s/o Fareeduddin, who also calls himself Professor Tahir al-Qadri, has been a controversial figure in Islamic circles ever since early 1990s.

Originally from the town of Jhang (in Pakistan) he has recently moved to Canada and spends most of his time there or in the UK.

His Childhood & Education
...
Born in Jhang, Pakistan, in February 1951.

His early education details are sketchy. Some say he did his matriculation in Pakistan, whereas it is also claimed simultaneously that he studied in Medina Shareef since he was 12 years old. However, it is known that he did his M.A. in Islamic Sciences in Punjab University. He also did his LLB (law degree), and followed his profession as a lawyer for some years – later abandoning it for teaching at the same university. His Islamic education is therefore not through the lengthy and rigorous curriculum followed by Ahle-Sunnah seminaries, which usually takes 7 to 12 years.

His Rise to Fame in Religious Circles

He took Baiyah at the hands of Peer Syed Tahir Alaudeen. He started off as an orator and appeared on television for some years in the 1980s, due to the special relationship he had with the then chief Minister of Punjab Mian Nawaz Shareef, who also installed him as the Khateeb in his family mosque in Raiwind.

Coming from the traditional Ahle-Sunnah background, his speeches reflected the teachings of Ahle-Sunnah, and appealed to the masses due to their simplicity and style of presentation. He however remained “un-committed” to any particular school of thought, always refusing to associate with any single sect.

The scholars of Ahle-Sunnah tried to persuade him to openly declare himself being part of the Ahle – Sunnah (Hanafi, Barelwi) as opposed to being a Deobandi, Wahabi or Ahle-hadeeth (who also call themselves Ahle-Sunnah).He refused to do so, citing one pretext after another. Little did the scholars and the masses know that he had serious political intentions, and did not want to align himself to any particular sect.

The Political Dimension

Having gained enough fame through television, he soon formed his own organization ostensibly for the promotion of Islam, by the name of “Minhaj ul’Qur’an”. He declared himself as “chairman for life” of this organization, and soon had hundreds of volunteers and paid workers with him. The organization began promoting him further and printing several books purportedly written by him. A quick glance at the books revealed that they had been plagiarised from the teachings and writings of Imam Shah Ahmed Raza Khan Barelwi and Allama Syed Ahmed Saeed Kazmi. Soon the number of books grew in hundreds, with different writing styles, easily discernible that they had been “ghost’ written, with of course the name of Dr Tahir as the author.

With the political backing he had, and with his “own” organization, he gained popularity day by day, with his speeches being recorded and cassettes being sold in several countries around the world.

Due to his political ambitions he soon fell out with Nawaz Sharif. In May 1989, he announced his own political party by the name of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT). It is from here that he revealed his true colours. He wanted to ‘cash in’ on his popularity and fame. It is then that he played the “populist’ card and began making ridiculous tall claims and statements – all to make sure that he had the maximum numbers of followers and voters to guarantee his political success.

The First Dream to Garner Backing.

At first he made a claim of having seen the Holy prophet in a dream –with the message that he (Dr Tahir) was the chosen and beloved of the Holy Prophet. What better and more solid guarantee of his ‘sincerity’ could he have put forth? A huge number of the common folk of the Ahle-Sunnah, who have the deepest respect for the Holy Prophet, fell for this bait. They could never have an imagined that someone could lie about the Holy Prophet, for it has serious repercussions.

He “revealed” to the masses that the Holy Prophet had arrived at Karachi airport, and that there was no one present at the airport to accord reception to the beloved of Allah. He was the “only” person present there. He further “revealed” that the Holy Prophet was extremely annoyed with all the Ulema and Mashaykh of Pakistan because they had not willingly “hosted” him, and that he was about to go back. So he (Dr Tahir) persuaded the Holy Prophet to stay, to which he agreed. The Holy Prophet also told him to “make arrangements” for his “stay” in Pakistan and to grant him a “return air ticket” to Medina, whenever he intends to go back.

In one masterful but devilish stroke, he made his followers believe that ALL the Ulema and mashaykh in Pakistan are worthless as they have angered the Holy Prophet, and that he was the “chosen” one as he had been blessed by the Holy Prophet. (Readers are reminded here that it is KUFR to disgrace the righteous Ulema). Moreover, he was assured of financial arrangements from his followers because it was the command of the Holy Prophet to “make arrangements”. What better way to play with their emotions than by taking the name of the Holy Prophet?

Reaching Out to Other Sects & The Youth

Having secured a large number of the Ahle Sunnah behind him, he sought support from other groups. In his speeches, he never openly refuted heretic groups by name – always playing “safe”. He wrote a book called “Firqah Parasti Ka Khatema Kyunkar Mumkin Hai” (The way to end sectarianism). The book ostensibly invited all factions to unite, saying the differences between all sects were just ‘superficial’ or were on ‘secondary’ issues. This raised an alarm in Ahle-Sunnah circles, asking him to repent for this blasphemy and many scholars wrote against this. However, this was just a ploy to gain more popularity for the upcoming plan he had in mind.

His next move was to try to attract as many people he could, by showing that he was “liberal”. He targeted the youth by trimming off his beard to less than a fistful claiming, “Islam mein daadhi hai, daadhi mein Islam nahin hai.” (The beard is in Islam, Islam is not in the beard). A very loose statement regarding an important Sunnah, which is considered almost “Wajib” (obligatory), by all the four schools of jurisprudence. This was his first “challenge” against an established Sunnah. He could not have shaved off the entire hair on his face after having said this, for he still wanted to portray himself a scholar.


Another False Dream

In 1990, he claimed to have seen the Holy Prophet in yet another dream, saying he has been ‘commanded’ to take part in the forthcoming elections – and that he was assured of victory that would see him being crowned the Prime Minister of Pakistan. He was living in his own dream world – for when the election results poured in, Dr Tahir’s party had failed miserably. So how could the “basharat” (glad tidings) from the Holy Prophet prove untrue? People branded him a liar for relating a false dream about the Holy Prophet. He did not apologize for the lie, for that would obviously be disastrous for his “career”: instead he said, “the dream is true, but my interpretation was incorrect”!

His political party, like his religious outfit, remained a ‘one–man’ show. With its fortunes dwindling, Dr. Tahir dabbled in coalitions with Shia parties and other defunct forces, just to keep it alive.

Claims to Authority

Meanwhile, his propaganda on the religious front continued. And what better way to gain cheap publicity than to challenge the rulings of the pious predecessors? His followers started making ridiculous claims about him being a “Mujtahid” (erudite researcher with powers enough to give his own ruling without following others) – and finally he stated that “ the ‘diyat’ (blood money) of a woman was equal to that of a man”. This is in direct contradiction with the consensus (Ijma) of the Ahle-Sunnah scholars. He was called to explain, for it is Kufr (blasphemy), to go against the consensus. He could not substantiate his stance, and when he was shown the position of Imam-e-Azam Abu Haneefa in this respect, he had the audacity to say, “How can you bring his (Imam e Azam’s) evidences against me? He is my rival in this affair!”. This statement defies all rationale. By this he meant that he is equal to or above Imam-e-Azam Abu Haneefa – so the jurisprudence of the Imam was not acceptable to him. In other words, he claimed to be a greater Mujtahid than the great Imam.

His party won just a single seat in parliament again in 2002, but he soon realised that he was impotent in this assembly of heavy-weight parties. He submitted his resignation as an MNA, but true to his exhibitionist mentality, he made sure that it would noticed by all. Citing dozens of chronic reasons for opting out, his letter holds the record of being the lengthiest resignation paper ever submitted in parliament. One wonders whether these very reasons were not present when he joined politics!

A By-Product Of The War On Terror

Come 11 September 2001 – the day made infamous by the Twin Tower bombings – and his worldly fortunes took a turn. The “War on Terror” was announced and Pakistan was now referred to as the “epicentre of global terrorism”. Although Islam does not permit terrorism, the act was seen by Western Governments as the militant attitude of certain Islamic groups, especially the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

What followed is history. Western Governments sought to fight the war on all fronts – militarily as well as ideologically. They were seeking to find someone who would soften the Jihadist attitudes of certain sects, wanting them to adopt lenient postures against Christians and Western Governments.

This is when Dr Tahir saw his golden opportunity, and planned his moves to befriend Western Governments. Pakistan has various minority religious groups – the biggest among them being the Christians. He started making Christmas celebrations inside his campuses, since 2004. Being media savvy, the celebrations were proudly announced on their web-sites and in the newspapers. He was spotted by Western agencies as “their man”. He already had political connections and offices in many countries. He quickly expanded his sphere of influence, hobnobbing with Western diplomats and gaining their patronage to open more offices of the MQI and PAT.

His friendship with western governments saw his religious outfit being granted the status of “special observer” in the UNO.

Peaceful co-existence is encouraged in Islam, tolerance is approved. But it was Dr Tahir’s speech during the Christmas celebrations inside the MQI headquarters in January 2006, that caused an uproar, where he branded Jews and Christians as “believers”.

He grew bolder in his zeal to show to his friends that he was “liberal”, to the extent of forming the MCDF and IFR that regularly organised Christmas celebrations, as well as visits to churches, Hindu temples and Sikh temples (gurdwaras).The MQI-IFR held a Meelad ceremony INSIDE a Hindu temple in February 2012, and previously INSIDE a Baptist Church in Lahore.

He also changed his outfit – by abandoning the traditional Pakistani dress and putting on a Moroccan robe and an Egyptian style turban – to have an “international” look. And simultaneously, he took on the title of “Shaykh ul-Islam”.

The Fatwa (decree) on Terrorism

In March 2010, with much fanfare, he launched the “Fatwa on Terrorism” in the United Kingdom. The book was in Urdu, and later translated into English. It stated the obvious – that terrorism is NOT permitted in Islam. Not even during times of war is it justified to kill indiscriminately, nor attack children, women or the aged. Islam also prohibits the burning of fields or homes. It even advocates humane treatment to prisoners. The book could have been concise, and to the point – but living up habit of bragging, and to showcase it to the Western world, the book ran into 500 pages. It also went the “extra” mile to show Dr. Tahir’s mentors how ‘sincere’ he was in this newly found mission.

The fatwa was, however, not something new. The same fatwas of illegality of terrorism & suicide bombings were issued in Pakistan and India by various Ahle-Sunnah Scholars. Some of them paid a heavy price for it, with their lives – notably Mufti Sarfaraz Naeemi in Lahore, who was assassinated by a suicide bomber. The scholars had spoken the truth against this menace, but Dr Tahir in his interviews, went much further than that, by branding all those involved in such acts to be outright infidels.

His fatwa brought him again into limelight and the good books of many governments, including USA, UK & India. What better way to lure youth away from ‘Islamic’ terrorism than to have a ‘famous Islamic scholar’ speak against it?

The Wembley Conference.

Dr Tahir organised an event on 24thSeptember 2011 called “Peace for Humanity Conference” in London, UK. He invited leaders of several religions – including Hindus, Sikhs, Jews, Christians and Buddhists. It is here that he again committed huge blunders – inviting polytheists leaders to utter any name, to pray to “their Lord” etc.

The Salman Taseer Incident.

Salman Taseer – governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province – had been advocating the release of a Christian woman who was being held under custody for allegedly abusing the Holy Prophet. This act carries the death penalty under the blasphemy laws in Pakistan. Salman Taseer, in various interviews called this act “the black law” (Kaala Qanoon) and promised to get the lady released through a presidential pardon.

Despite several warnings, Salman Taseer continued his ‘campaign’ against the blasphemy punishment laws. In January 2011, Salman Taseer was gunned down by his own bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri. Mumtaz Qadri was arrested, and a trial initiated against him. He became an instant hero, with the Muslim scholars and public out on the streets to pressure the government to release him.
In an interview given to ARY News in late September 2011, Dr Tahir was asked his opinion regarding the killing of Salman Taseer. To the surprise of many, Dr. Tahir stated that Mumtaz Qadri must be punished as a ‘killer’. This was another BIG blunder, both in Islamic terms as well as politically. This was totally against the Ahle-Sunnah beliefs – in fact very much against what Dr. Tahir has written in his own books, and what he had been lecturing for many years! Hundreds of Scholars – including those who were not Ahle-Sunnah, refuted him. His own circle of scholars of the MQI resigned in protest. Politically, it also sounded the death knell for him in Pakistan, for no sane Muslim would vote for someone who supports an insulter of the Holy Prophet. It is clear that his statement was in support of his “Fatwa on Terrorism” in which he had gone the extra mile to please his mentors.

His claims to greatness and being a “Reviver of Islam”.

Dr. Tahir soon realized that he had a number of people behind him, and likewise, many other ‘islamic’ personalities were also getting popular. He desperately needed to hold the masses behind him, and increase the numbers too. What better way than to make claims to saint-hood and tell people that he had the backing of the Holy Prophet, the cardinal Saint Syedna Ghaws-e-Azam Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jeelani and Shaykh Moinuddin Chishti etc? He started relating ridiculous dreams and miracles. Number of You-Tube videos claiming “wilayat” (saint-hood) through “staged” miracles are still available for review. The title of a Mujtahid had been claimed long ago – so his followers started calling him a “Reviver of Islam”.

One wonders how a “Reviver” of Islam could call for mixing it with other religions or pander to disbelievers.

1. Books purported to have been written by him, are actually ghost written, by his “panel of paid writers”.

2. The speeches that he gives, with a library behind him – and half a dozen books with yellow stickers marked on them are a sham. The bookmarks are – again – put by his fellow panel members. All it takes from him is a bit of histrionics and mixture of words to put the message across.

3. His knowledge of Arabic grammar is basic at best. So whenever he tries to say something in Arabic, he makes a lapse, or his memory fails him.

4. At best, he was a good orator – only when given the right material to read.

The charges of blasphemy and his response

Dr Tahir has invited edicts of blasphemy on many occasions, but has never dared to directly answer any of the charges. All he has done is to release new videos trying to ‘clarify’ his stance or just simply make counter accusations; or worse still, to make more claims of ridiculous dreams. To make matters worse, he has been closing the doors of talks with Ahle-Sunnah scholars by branding his opponents as ‘supporters of terrorism’, ‘jealous rivals’, ‘profuse edict issuers’ (fatwa baaz), ‘ignorant mullahs’ and ‘personal enemies’. It is obvious that these are irrational responses. One may ask – if he does not want to listen to the “fatwa baaz” (edict isssuers), why did he tout his own “fatwa” (edict) on terrorism?

The counter allegations do not exonerate Dr Tahir of blasphemy.

The decrees of blasphemy are very clear and leave no room for doubt. He has put his followers & a lot of common folk into confusion: he has an obligation to do one of the following:-

1. If he acknowledges the decrees to be correct: To publicly retract his stance on all these issues, and repent.

2. If he does not accept the charges to be correct: To engage in a scholarly debate.

The second option has been put up to him on several occasions, without any positive response – because defeat in the debate is