Exposing Dr. Tahir-ul Qadri | The Rest of the Story

Exposing Dr. Tahir-ul Qadri | The Rest of the Story

I am almost certain that the author of the ... article ["Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri’s ‘Peace & Humanity Conference’ is a ray of hope"] knows nothing of Qadri’s dark past. But the continued promotion of Tahir-ul-Qadri, even though the facts about him are readily available, proves that we in the West are so desperate for the emergence of a moderate Islamic voice that we will grasp at any fellow who preaches tolerance and understanding, even when his record shows that he has previously believed in and practiced neither." [Joseph K.]

 Recently a post entitled "Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri’s ‘Peace & Humanity Conference’ is a ray of hope" appeared in Harry's Place (HP), a blog at HurryUpHarry.com.

Dr. Qadri, famous for his opportunistic style for garnering religious followers, has been appearing in the media trying to play nice with the West. Recently, for example, he surprised many by conforming to the same Jihad definition that the members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (Dr. Qadri's cheif targets of hate) have been promoting for over one hundred years and Dr. Qadri's blatant use of Ahmadiyya perspective on Jihad made the news in the Urdu media in North America.

Having done wonder's in the 'service of Islam,' such as indoctrination of his followers, especially the youth, into extremism, establishment and strengthening of Pakistan's notorious Blasphemy laws, intensification of Pakistan's infamous Haad laws, Dr. Qadri now tells the West - with a straight face - he is against terrorism.




He recently won sympathies from the naive westerners for having issued an ‘anti-terrorism fatwa.’ None from the progressive media bothered to ask the 'good doctor' to at least denounce the extremism of his own past.

Responding to the post in HP one well-informed reader, Joseph K. took the blog, the poster, and the ‘good doctor’ himself to task and asked the simple questions that need answers before the doctor can be taken seriously.

Here we share with Ahmadiyya Times readers the comment portion (only those three that were posted by Joseph K.) for the purpose of informing our readers and - with thanks to Joseph K. - now the people will know the ‘whole truth.’


http://hurryupharry.org/2011/09/25/dr-tahir-ul-qadris-peace-humanity-conference-is-a-ray-of-hope/

I - Joseph K. | September 25, 2011

Dr Tahir-Ul-Qadri: I would have no hesitation in saying you are enjoying the rights and freedoms much better than in many other Muslim and Arab countries.

They are certainly better than the rights minorities enjoy in Pakistan, courtesy of the efforts of the eminent Dr Muhammad Tahir-Ul-Qadri.

Qadri is feted by Western liberal governments for his proclamations, most notably his widely publicised fatwa against terrorism. In his native Pakistan, however, he showed a very different face. While Juris-Consult [legal advisor] to the Federal Sharia Court of Pakistan in the mid-1980s, he gave his religious sanction to a number of rulings that had appalling consequences for that country’s religious minorities. His arguments led directly to the criminalising of Ahmadiyya belief, the imposition of the death sentence for blasphemy, and the reintroduction of stoning to death as a punishment.

But these are the truths that his followers and supporters don’t want you to know. Indeed, when I first pointed this out on HP, over a year ago, the article praising Qadri (and the comment section highlighting his barbarity) was pulled from HP, and the webpage that glorified his record of “achievements” in Islamic jurisprudence [ http://www.minhaj.org/english/tid/9832/Shaykh-ul-Islam%E2%80%99s-Historical-Contributions-in-the-Field-of-Law.html ] disappeared from the website of his organisation, Minhaj-al-Quran International.

Never mind. It still exists in cyber space, thanks to the magic of Google. So here is the embarrassing record of this “special kind of superstar”. Judge for yourself whether he deserves the acclamation granted to him in the above article.

Qadri speaks of the rights extended to Muslims in the UK, yet his own organisation boasted of his part in denying civil rights to religious minorities in Pakistan:

"In the same way, he defended the Government of Pakistan when the Qadianis [ Ahmadis] filed a writ against its decision in July-August 1984. His precedence-loaded and reference-padded intellectual defense of the rights and religious liberties of non-Muslim minorities in Islamic state, carries a historic significance on the basis of his convincing arguments. The Federal Sharia Court rejected the petition of the Qadianis on 20th July, 1984 by furnishing a legal justification on the philosophy of finality of Prophethood, They were disallowed to use for them Islamic terminology and call their worship places as mosques."

But of course, as history has shown us with these types of religious bigots, denying people religious rights and criminalising their belief is only the start. The next move is always more sinister, and Qadri was only too happy to enable it. The Ahmadis do not believe that Mohammed was the final prophet of Islam. For Qadri, this was unacceptable.

"For three days from November 14 to 17, 1985 Dr Qadri presented his arguments continuously before the Federal Sharia Court of Pakistan to determine the quantum of punishment to be awarded to a person guilty of contempt of the finality of the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him), an extremely delicate legal matter.

"He established, on evidence from the Quran and Sunna, that a person guilty of contempt of the finality of the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) deserved death sentence and the punishment will be imposed as Hadd.

"The act of contempt of the finality of the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) is a crime, which cannot be tolerated whether its commission is direct or indirect, intentional or un-intentional. The crime is so sanguine that even his repentance cannot exempt him from the penalty of death.

"Dr Qadri placed a massive array of arguments before the learned Court and particularly stressed the point that no lacuna should be allowed in the legal structure of an Islamic state to encourage this form of sacrilege. The chambers of the Court will continue to reverberate with the passion and eloquence with which Dr Qadri conducted his defense of the sanctity and dignity of the the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him).

So, thanks to the efforts of Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, followers of the Ahmaddiya sect were forbidden by law from using Islamic terminology, and faced the death penalty for publicly declaring their beliefs. And not just any death penalty, thanks to again to Qadri.

"When the Federal Sharia Court of Pakistan gave its verdict against “Rajm” (stoning to death) as Hadd, the Government of Pakistan filed a review petition against the decision of the court. In his capacity as Juris Consult, Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri came to the help of the Government at this crucial juncture, and through cogent reasoning and profuse illustration spread over four days from 20th to 23rd June, 1982, forced the Federal Sharia Court to reverse its decision and uphold Rajm as Hadd."

Get that? The Federal Sharia Court of Pakistan, not known for being a gathering of liberal pantywaists, nevertheless found against stoning to death. Then up pops a “special kind of superstar” and forces them to reverse their verdict and reinstate this most barbaric and medieval of punishments. Take a bow, Dr Muhammad Tahir-al-Qadri!

"In another case the Blasphemy Law protecting the esteemed station and reverence of the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) was also passed for the first time in the history of Pakistan after Shaykh-ul-Islam presented his arguments to the court, over a period of three days, culminating in an Act of Parliament. Shaykh-ul-Islam presented his arguments to the federal Sharia Court for long 18 hours which culminated into formulation of section 295-C."

[295-C is from the part of Pakistan's legal code that covers blasphemy. It makes it an offence "by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad". Whoever transgresses shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine. It was their vociferous opposition to 295-C and the other blasphemy laws that cost Pakistani politicians Salmaan Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti their lives earlier this year.]

I am almost certain that the author of the above article knows nothing of Qadri’s dark past. But the continued promotion of Tahir-ul-Qadri, even though the facts about him are readily available, proves that we in the West are so desperate for the emergence of a moderate Islamic voice that we will grasp at any fellow who preaches tolerance and understanding, even when his record shows that he has previously believed in and practiced neither.

[Footnote: This is the third time that Tahir-ul-Qadri has been promoted on HP as a "refreshing" beacon of Islamic tolerance. Either his name slipped through the net - again - or else the HP powers that be have decided that his record as the architect of what are, in effect, Pakistan's Nuremberg Laws, should have no bearing on his current efforts to establish himself as the liberal West's favourite cleric.]

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II - Joseph K.   September 26, 2011

Alec Macph: Not meaning to sound to-o-o-o-o much like SarahAB, it would be informative if Qadri’s office would issue a response

His organisation has already produced a response of sorts, Alec. When Qadri first popped up on HP, it was in an article written by a spokesman for his organisation, Minhaj-ul-Quran, praising its leader and promoting MuQ. After I exposed him in the comments, the article was withdrawn and the page that I linked to above disappeared from the MuQ International website. The above link is a cached version, the original link (below) now redirects you to the website’s homepage:

http://www.minhaj.org/english/tid/9832/Shaykh-ul-Islam%E2%80%99s-Historical-Contributions-in-the-Field-of-Law.html.

As I stated, his supporters appear very keen that his past as one of the architects of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws should not become known. A bit silly really, when his “achievements” – enabling the persecution of the Ahmadiyya, advocating the death penalty for “blasphemy” and securing the reintroduction of stoning to death -were being trumpeted on his own organisation’s website, and on countless other websites too.

This shyness isn’t surprising: Minhaj-ul-Quran is an international business, with branches in over 90 countries. The more Qadri is exalted by desperate Western politicians, the more prestige he and his organisation acquires.

There are certainly many questions that he needs to be confronted with, but nobody wants to ask them. There are many facts that need to be made public, but nobody wants to listen. Quite the opposite, it seems.
This is what David Cameron had to say following the murder of Pakistan Minister for Minority Affairs and anti-blasphemy law campaigner Shahbaz Bhatti in Pakistan back in March:

British Prime Minister David Cameron said the murder of Bhatti was “absolutely brutal and unacceptable”.

“It was absolutely shocking news,” Cameron told the House of Commons. “I will send not only our condolences but our clearest possible message to the government and people of Pakistan that this is simply unacceptable,” he added.

His words were echoed by Britain’s leading Anglican churchman:

The archbishop [sic] of Canterbury expressed “shock and sorrow” at the murder and the Vatican condemned it as an “unspeakable” act of violence.

Fast forward six months to Tahir-ul-Qadri’s Peace and Humanity Conference, and what do we find?
The audience heard pre-recorded messages of support from, amongst others, Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, opposition leader Ed Miliband, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams.

Condemning the murder of an anti-blasphemy law campaigner on the one hand, and praising the architect of those laws on the other.

Our leaders are so clueless and so pathetic that they make you want to weep.

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III - Joseph K.  September 26, 2011

I wrote above that the website of Tahir-ul-Qadri’s organisation, Minhaj-ul-Quran International, previously carried a page praising his efforts in shaping Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. I stated that they seemed shy of the fact, as the page promptly disappeared after I linked to it.

I was wrong. Far from being shy of supporting the blasphemy laws, Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri is on video defending those same obscene laws at an appearance at Georgetown University on Nov 8 last year.


Read source post here: Exposing Dr. Tahir-ul Qadri | The Rest of the Story