Prof. Dr. Hassan Mohiuddin Qadri Delivers Keynote Lecture at Al-Minhaj Institute London Graduation Ceremony

In his address, Prof. Dr. Hassan Mohiuddin Qadri explained that the true fruit of knowledge (ilm) is genuine servant and prophetic leadership: serving humanity with empathy, listening, and sound communication. He drew a sharp distinction between information and knowledge, noting that tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Google, along with digital encyclopedias and social media, are channels of information, not sources of knowledge and not scholars. True knowledge, he said, transforms a person’s outlook, behaviour, and character, enabling them to distinguish good from bad and carrying them toward al-Marifa, the knowledge of God.

Dr. Hassan Qadri grounded this in Qur’an 3:18 (Surah Aal-Imran), where Allah, the angels, and those endowed with knowledge (ulul-ilm) bear witness to His oneness while upholding justice (qist). Contrasting qist with qast (oppression), he stressed that the true people of knowledge are the humble, those who continue to call themselves students rather than seeking status. Citing Imam al-Raghib al-Asfahani, he defined knowledge as idrak al-shay bi-haqiqatihi, the perception of a thing according to its true reality, and tied it to khashya, awe of Allah. He also noted that his forthcoming book will address the ethics of AI.

Dr. Hassan Qadri outlined ten stages in the journey of acquiring knowledge: Talim, Taallum, Tadris, Mudarasa, Tadrim, Takhrij, Takharruj, Adab, Marifa, and La adri (“I do not know”), the final stage returning to the humility with which he began.

The event was graced by the presence of esteemed guests, including Allama Muhammad Zeeshan; Director, Al-Minhaj Institute London; Allama Sadiq Qureshi; President MQI UK, Syed Ali Abbas Bukhari; Allama Abdul Rasool; Hafiz Saad Farooq; Dawood Mahmood; Ustad Hassan Raza; Shahid Iqbal; Vakas Hussain; Dr Urfan Zahoor; Faisal Najeeb; Zarvesha Rasool; along with teachers, students, and people from various walks of life.