President Mamnoon Hussain on Saturday called upon the intelligentsia of the country
to join their heads to build a national counter-terrorism narrative as
extremism was a cancer imperiling the national development and stability.
Addressing the annual International Seerat Conference
held by Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony in connection with
Eid Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH), the president said the national narrative against
terrorism was inevitable to fight the terrorism with unanimity of thought.
The event was attended by the
cabinet members, parliamentarians, diplomats, religious scholars, students and people
from different walks of life.
The president was accompanied by
Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousuf, State Minister Pir
Aminul Hasnaat and Grand Mufti of Kyrgyzstan Maksatbek Azhy Toktomushev.
Started by the spell-binding
recitation of Quranic verses by renowned Qari Sadaqat Ali and Naat by Noor
Ahmed Jarral, the theme of the conference was the ‘Guiding Principles for the
national leadership in the light of the teachings of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be
Upon Him)’.
He said as the whole nation was
celebrating Eid Milad-un-Nabi (PBUH) on Friday, the
terrorists killed the innocent people in Pashawar and questioned as how a
person threatening others’ lives and properties could claim to be the follower
of the Holy Prophet Muahmmad (PBUH).
The president strongly condemned the
incident and sympathized with the bereaved families.
He said the whole nation was
determined to eliminate the terrorism from the country and called for national
unity to achieve the success.
The president, who earlier
distributed prizes among the winning authors of the books on Holy Prophet
(PBUH)’s life and teachings and anthology of Naats in both local and foreign
languages, congratulated the ministry for holding the event which brought
together the religious scholars from various countries to deliberate and present
papers on the important subject.
President Mamnoon said it was a day
to re-think and reiterate the resolve to act upon the eternal teachings of the
Holy Prophet (PBUH) wholeheartedly.
He welcomed the religious scholars
from Pakistan and abroad participating in the conference and congratulated the
prize winning authors and poets.
He said the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was
the only personality whose every aspect of life was fully preserved for our
guidance in all walks of life.
Therefore, he said it was necessary
that every Muslim, particularly those responsible for looking after the affairs
of the people, should constantly study the Holy Quran and Sunnah for guidance
to face the challenges of the time.
He said as the books encompassing the
Seerat-un-Nabi (PBUH) provided the standards for a leadership which also
comprised the acute observation of the situation, impartial analysis and
perceiving the matters correctly.
President Mamnoon said the world today
was entangled in complex problems of various nature, the reasons of which could
be found in the approach to life, psychology and historical background of
different societies.
He said these were the factors due to
which various regions of this world had conflicts and harbor hostility at one
or the other level. Our region could not remain uninfluenced from this
restlessness, the effects of which can be seen beyond our boundaries as well as
within our frontiers, he added.
In such a situation, the president
viewed that the mature nations and their leadership determine their way forward
by sincerely evaluating the challenges from educational, cultural, societal,
political and economic aspects.
He said with the Holy Prophet (PBUH)
uprooted many meaningless rituals from society and people were brought together
under a system which was according to the true spirit of the religion which
strengthened the tradition of goodwill. Acquiring education was made compulsory
for every man and woman, collective justice was promoted and discouragement of
concentration of wealth resulted in such a wave of prosperity in the tribal
society which could still be envied.
The president said these were the
revolutionary measures through which the old oppressive system was replaced
with a new fair and equitable system. This should be the standard of leadership
by adopting which the world can enjoy peace, progress and prosperity even in
this age, he advised.
He said it was our foremost
responsibility to follow the footsteps of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and harbor
the virtues of love and goodwill for the people by setting aside personal
gains, objectives and interests.
Such an approach would lead to
improvement and society to ultimately reach the destination of prosperity by
rising out of the abyss of ignorance, poverty and destitution.
He said it was imperative for the
leader to comprehend the world and society with open heart and mind and leave
no stone unturned for development and prosperity of society keeping in view the
contemporary. situation.
President Mamnoon said it was
leadership’s responsibility to promote healthy trends in the light of highest
principles of morality by uprooting the negative tendencies from society.
Earlier, the religious affairs minister
presented a souvenir to the president.
In his address, Minister Sardar
Yousuf highlighted the achievements of his ministry for promotion of Islamic
teachings and interfaith harmony in the society including the establishment of
recycling plant for soiled Quranic pages, countrywide conferences on interfaith
harmony, cell to prohibit the spread of blasphemous content on internet, and
setting up of Ulema council on religious harmony.
He said the ministry also gave the
legal cover to the moon sighting committee, introduced uniformed timings for
prayers in Islamabad, ensured transparent and efficient Hajj operation besides
regularly updating the ministry’s web and social media pages to inform the
public on the issues of their interests.
