Minhaj-ul-Quran International ( ur, ) (or MQI) is an international

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

(NGO) founded by Shaykh-ul-Islam

Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri ( ur, ‎; born 19 February 1951) is a Pakistani–Canadian Islamic scholar and former politician who founded Minhaj-ul-Quran International and Pakistan Awami Tehreek. He was also a professor of international co ...

in 1980 in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, Pakistan. Its headquarters is based in Lahore, Pakistan and has branches in 93 countries.

International network

Minhaj-ul-Quran Pakistan

MQI organised the Annual Milad Conference which was held at Iqbal Park, Minar-e-Pakistan, Lahore. The chief guest was Al-Azhar University Vice Chancellor Dr Osama Muhammad Al-Abd at the conference while hundreds of thousands of people from all four provinces and delegations from Middle East and parts of Europe attended the conference. It observed one-minute silence against blasphemous caricatures published by France. It arranged the World Islamic Banking and Finance Conference to find solutions to banking, finance and sociopolitical issues faced by Muslims. In 2019, it launched the "interest free" Al-Muwakhat Islamic Micro-Finance project. Female activists of the organisation observed the International Women's Day at a rally in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

. It protested in

against

Honour Killings An honor killing (American English), honour killing (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), or shame killing is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect wha ...

of women. The

Model Town Massacre The Model Town operation, more commonly known as the Model Town tragedy or the Lahore massacre ( ur, سانحہ ماڈل ٹاؤن), or simply Lahore incident, was a violent clash that ensued between the Punjab Police and Pakistan Awami Tehreek ...

took place outside the premises of MQI Secretariat in Model Town, Lahore on 17 June 2014. The Court directed the police to register a First Information Report (FIR) against the Prime Minister, Punjab Chief Minister, Deputy Inspector of the Police and 18 others which included police officials and politicians.

Minhaj-ul-Quran UK

Minhaj-ul-Quran UK organised a three-day anti-terrorism camp at Warwick University to tackle extremist ideology with expected attendance of over 1,000 young Muslims.

Al Hidayah (organisation) Al-Hidayah (meaning "The Guidance") is a UK-based youth-oriented forum of Minhaj-ul-Quran UK. The organisation was founded in 2004. Al-Hidayah has been held as an annual three day residential retreat held at various locations in the United K ...

is a part of Minhaj-ul-Quran. It held a Peace Conference to condemn terrorism in which 12,000 people gathered in Wembley Arena, London. The conference had messages of support from Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

, Deputy PM

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicepr ...

, opposition leader

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband ...

, UN General Secretary

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

, and Archbishop of Canterbury

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

. There were peace prayers from people of different religions. MQI UK published the

Islamic Curriculum on Peace and Counter-Terrorism Islamic Curriculum on Peace and Counter Terrorism is a curriculum prepared by Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri on peace and counter-terrorism. The curriculum was launched on 23 June 2015 in the presence of many official guests, includ ...

and

Fatwa on Terrorism The ''Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings'' is a 600-page (Urdu version), 512-page (English version) Islamic decree by scholar Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri which demonstrates from the Quran and Sunnah that terrorism and suicide bombings are unjust a ...

. Minhaj-ul-Quran runs a radio station from its mosque in Forest Gate London, it operates

Minhaj Welfare Foundation Minhaj Welfare Foundation (MWF) is a non-governmental organisation, non-governmental international relief and welfare organisation and a branch of Minhaj-ul-Quran International. It was founded on 17 October 1989 by Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, and re ...

from the mosque and organised a candle lit vigil for people who died in all sorts of terrible ways. Youngsters from Wimbledon Chedar and MQI Mosque teamed up in their Jewish-Muslim interfaith initiative to make a

Challah Challah (, he, חַלָּה or ; plural: or ) is a special bread of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, usually braided and typically eaten on ceremonial occasions such as Shabbat and major Jewish holidays (other than Passover). Ritually acceptable ...

for homeless people and conduct a workshop.

Minhaj-ul-Quran Denmark

The

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

branch of the Minhaj-ul-Quran International organization was founded in 1987. It consists of four departments, in which three are located in the

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

area and one in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

. In 2003 about 130 Danish Pakistanis canceled their memberships in Minhaj-ul-Quran in a mass protest against what they described as a closed and undemocratic organization run as a one-man-show by Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri. In 2006 newspaper

Jyllands-Posten ''Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten'' (; English: ''The Morning Newspaper "The Jutland Post"''), commonly shortened to ''Jyllands-Posten'' or ''JP'', is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Aarhus C, Jutland, and with a weekday circulat ...

revealed how the Danish

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

and member of Minhaj-ul-Quran Naveed Baig urged the murder of

apostates Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...

from Islam in a video recording from a gathering held in Minhaj-ul-Quran's mosque in

Valby Valby () is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is in the southwestern corner of Copenhagen Municipality, and has a mixture of different types of housing. This includes apartment blocks, terraced housing, areas with single ...

in 1994. Baig was translating a speech held in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Minhaj-ul-Quran Norway

Having established in Copenhagen during the late 1980s, Tahir-ul-Qadri's cassettes and videotapes started spreading throughout much of the Pakistani diaspora community in Norway. In 1990 the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

branch of the Minhaj-ul-Quran International organization was founded in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

in 1990. It was started out by 20-30 people renting two small rooms in Tøyengata at

Tøyen Tøyen is a residential area in the central parts of Oslo, Norway, part of the borough of Gamle Oslo. Location There are two different stations which carry the name Tøyen. Tøyen Railway Station is located on the Gjøvik Line, while Tøyen ...

in central Oslo. Its number of memberships quickly increased. In February 1999 a department of Minhaj-ul-Quran was founded in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

. In 2006 the Oslo department had close to 4000 members, and was the third largest mosque in Oslo after Central Jamaat-e Ahl-e Sunnat and

World Islamic Mission World Islamic Mission (WIM) is an international Muslim organisation of Sufi-inspired Barelvi Sunni Muslims.Breivik's sanity, date=April 28, 2012, publisher=Fox News, agency= AP, access-date=April 29, 2012 It was established in the United Kingdom ...

. Drammen Moské, founded in 1987, was affiliated with Minhaj-ul-Quran for some time, but chose to cut their ties. MQI has various community related projects which are supported by the

Norwegian Government The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the prime minister of Norway. Legislative power is ...

. One of the main projects is the Minhaj Conflict Resolution or Minhaj Konfliktråd (MKR). Minhaj-ul-Quran differs from other mosques in Oslo by openly endorsing the Pakistani

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Pakistan Awami Tehreek The Pakistan Awami Tehreek commonly known as PAT ( ur, پاکستان عوامی تحريک) (''Pakistan People's Movement'') is a political party in Pakistan, founded by Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, took part in general elections in 1990 and 2002. ...

, while other mosques either do not participate in similar political activities or claim not be involved in politics. Their engagement in this specific political party is due to both organizations sharing the same founder in Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. When Tahir-ul-Qadri backed

Ayatollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

's fatwa of 1989 demanding the

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the State (polity), state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to ...

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...

for writing a book perceived as

blasphemous Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...

towards Islam, he received support from the leader of the Norwegian branch of Minhaj-ul-Quran, who also criticized the Norwegian authorities for even communicating with Rushdie. In 2000 the Oslo department deposed its imam Syed Ikram Jillani on the grounds that the board asserted his teachings were contrary to that of Tahir ul-Qadris. Leader of Minhaj Ungdom, Faiz Alam, justified the dismissal by pointing out that the congregation is following the philosophy of its religious head Tahir ul-Qadri in Pakistan, using his books and videos, and cannot accept that an imam runs a different scheme. Syed Ikram Jillani was later hired as an imam at World Islamic Mission. Making use of

undercover journalism Undercover journalism is a form of journalism in which a reporter tries to infiltrate in a community by posing as somebody friendly to that community. Role The role of undercover journalism has become the topic of much debate as moral and ethica ...

newspaper

Dagens Næringsliv ''Dagens Næringsliv'' (Norwegian for "Today's Business"), commonly known as ''DN'', is a Norwegian newspaper specializing in business news. , it is the third-largest newspaper in Norway. Editor-in-chief is Janne Johannessen, who was appointed i ...

in October 2004 revealed how Minhaj-ul-Quran in Oslo will assist Pakistani Norwegian parents looking to send their children off to

Quranic schools Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

in Pakistan in order to rid them of what they perceive to be excessive influence from the modern

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

environment they live in. The president of Minhaj-ul-Quran Oslo, who otherwise speaks the importance of integration and active participation in Norwegian society, showed willing to provide a place among a selection of Quranic schools he recommended. Confronted a few days later, he denied the statements he had made, until he was informed the conversation had been recorded. Minhaj-ul-Quran took part in distributing 10,000 copies of the Quran in Norway in response to an incident where anti-Islam group

SIAN Sian or Siyan may refer to: __NOTOC__ People *Siân, a Welsh girl's name; list of people with this name Places *Sian, Iran (disambiguation), various places in Iran *Sian, Russia, a rural locality in Amur Oblast, Russia *Xi'an, China, formerly roman ...

attempted to burn a copy of the Quran during a demonstration held in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

in November 2019.

Minhaj-ul-Quran India

MQI India organised a tour by its Pakistani-Canadian founder Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri who visited India upon the request of Indian Muslims. The schedule of his visit was from 25 February to 17 March 2012. He addresses a historical gathering of Minhaj-ul-Quran International in

Ajmer Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "''Aj ...

Sharif India. He attended the World Sufi Forum. The Indian government red flagged his comments that "Kashmiris should be able to choose freedom through a plebiscite" and blocked his visa for his planned visit in 2020.

Minhaj-ul-Quran USA

The MQI mosque in New Jersey is part of the Eid Committee which ensures that Muslims in different parts of the country can pray together at the same time.

Minhaj-ul-Quran Australia

The NSW Australian Parliament passed a motion in which Minhaj-ul-Quran Australia was congratuled on their services to the Australian Muslim Community.

Achievements

Minhaj-ul-Quran holds one of the largest annual Itikaf gatherings during the month of

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

with approximately 37,000 people sitting congregational Itikaf in 2007. It holds the largest Laylat ul Qadr night event on the 27th Ramadan with millions of attendees. On 3 December 2005 Minhaj-ul-Quran established a full-time institution called ''Gosha-e-Durood'' where any individual can apply to sit for reciting salutations on Muhammad. A building dedicated to this purpose with ''Mawlana''

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ( fa, جلال‌الدین محمد رومی), also known as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (), Mevlânâ/Mawlānā ( fa, مولانا, lit= our master) and Mevlevî/Mawlawī ( fa, مولوی, lit= my ma ...

style

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

s is under construction.re
About Gosha-e-Darood
/ref> As of February 2021 Minhaj-ul-Quran has submitted ove
4.51 (4510000000000) Trillion
salutation(Durood) on Muhammed. Minhaj-ul-Quran International is the first organisation of its kind that has initiated interfaith dialogues with religious minorities in Pakistan. Its founder is the Chairman of the 'Muslim Christian Dialogue Forum' to highlight and promote their citizen rights. The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has formally recognised and granted a 'Special Consultative Status' to Minhaj-ul-Quran International for its work. In September 2011, Minhaj-ul-Quran organised a major "Peace for Humanity" conference at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

at which, under the auspices of

Tahir-ul-Qadri Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri ( ur, ‎; born 19 February 1951) is a Pakistani–Canadian Islamic scholar and former politician who founded Minhaj-ul-Quran International and Pakistan Awami Tehreek. He was also a professor of international co ...

, its 12,000 attendees announced a global

declaration Declaration may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Declaration'' (book), a self-published electronic pamphlet by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri * ''The Declaration'' (novel), a 2008 children's novel by Gemma Malley Music ...

denouncing racism, interfaith intolerance, extremism and terrorism. Minhaj-ul-Quran strategist

Joel Hayward Joel Hayward (born 1964) is a New Zealand-born British scholar, writer and poet. The daily newspaper '' Al Khaleej'' called Hayward "a world authority on international conflict and strategy". '' The National'' newspaper called Hayward "eminent" ...

wrote the declaration text for Qadri and was its second formal signatory after Qadri himself. Notably, senior

Al-Azhar University , image = جامعة_الأزهر_بالقاهرة.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Al-Azhar University portal , motto = , established = *970/972 first foundat ...

leaders and dignitaries then signed it before Minhaj-ul-Quran opened it up via the internet for public signing. They aim to get one million signatures within a year. The London Declaration for Global Peace and Resistance against Extremism is intended as an interfaith document which unequivocally condemns all extremism and terrorism, "because at the heart of all religions is a belief in the sanctity of the lives of the innocent". The Declaration adds: "The indiscriminate nature of terrorism, which has in recent years killed far more civilians and other non-combatants than it has combatants, is un-Islamic, un-Judaic, un-Christian and it is indeed incompatible with the true teachings of all faiths". The London Declaration also "unequivocally condemn anti-Semitism (including when sometimes it is disingenuously clothed as anti-Zionism), Islamophobia (including when it is sometimes disingenuously dressed up as patriotism) and all other forms of racism and xenophobia". Some extremists have already tried to prevent the success of the Declaration via cyber-attacks on the website hosting it. Tahir-ul Qadri announced the largest March in modern times in Pakistan; a march to take place on 14 January 2013 at 'Tahrir Square' Islamabad. The agenda of long march is to voice elimination of feudalism, introduction of real democracy, rule of law and implementation of constitution. The

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...

gave Minhaj-ul-Quran the status of an examination board for religious seminaries under the name of Nizam al-Madaris. A new syllabus was unveiled that would meet the modern day requirements.

Forums and sub-organisations

* The Minhaj University *

(MWF) * Al Hidayah

References

External links

Minhaj-ul-Quran International - Official site
at Peace Program site {{Coord, 31, 29, 00.11, N, 74, 18, 32.77, E, region:PK, display=Minhaj-ul-Quran International Interfaith organizations Non-profit organisations based in Pakistan Sharia in Pakistan Sufi organizations Sunni organizations Organisations based in Lahore Islamic organisations based in Pakistan 1980 establishments in Pakistan Islamic education in Pakistan Barelvi organizations