The launch of the Quranic Encyclopedia; A step towards enrichment

Jaweria Waheed |

“Ignorance is our only true foe and knowledge is our only true need”. The greatest dilemma of this century is the decline of the culture of knowledge which has been overshadowed by the bulk of information and facts. The field of knowledge and learning has become extinct in the present century where ignorance has collectively eaten up the moral and intellectual conscience of the Muslim world.

In retrospect, events like 9/11 were not a surprise but a painful indication of the underlying crisis that has penetrated deep inside us. Therefore, recovering the Islamic intellectual tradition is an important step to ameliorating the malaise which Muslims and non-Muslims have decried and bemoaned.

In such a gloomy environment, Shaykh ul Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir ul Qadri has taken a lead in addressing the contemporary challenges that the Muslim world is facing and in such a powerful voice that no one remained unheard on it. He has remarkably authored around 550 books and spoke on more than 12000 topics which are covered in his speeches and lectures.

He has an organizational setup in around 90 countries of the world which are devoted to the promotion of Islam worldwide. He raised the strongest response after 9/11 by writing a 600 pages Fatwa on Terrorism and suicide bombing and has given a Peace Curriculum as a counter-narrative to ISIS propaganda against Islam.

Today on 3rd of December 2018, Dr. Tahir ul Qadri has launched another astonishing and a phenomenal work in the form of Quranic Encyclopedia. This according to him is a result of his 50 years of study and knowledge. This encyclopedia which is comprised of 5000 topics has been presented in 8 volumes that will quench the thirst of the real seekers of Divine knowledge. In the age of scientific tools of research and techniques, Dr. Qadri’s Encyclopedia has given the modern day researchers with the latest tools to extract knowledge from the Holy Quran.

The First five volumes have the compilation of Quranic verses which are categorized under 5000 topics. The first volume is comprised of three parts. First is a detailed introduction of the Encyclopedia; the next 400 pages cover the list of contents and the third part starts with the topics of belief in Allah Almighty and Tawhid. The second volume covers the core believes of Islam which includes belief in prophethood, holy books, angels and the Day of Judgment.

Volume 3 covers topics related to rights and duties, science and technology. Subjects of peace and tolerance, nonviolence, relations with non-Muslims and lives of prophets are compiled in Volume 4 of this encyclopedia. Volume 5 covers Quranic verses related to political and government systems, a justice system, economics, wars, and Jihad.

Last part of Volume 5 has a detailed Alphabetic Index of the subjects and topics covered in Encyclopedia. Volume 6 till 8 are composed of a lengthy Index of Quranic words which has given a direct tool to the researchers to find the relevant subject easily.

The launching ceremony of this encyclopedia held in Aiwan e Iqbal today was graced by notable scholars, intellectuals, writers, journalists and researchers from across the country. Governor Punjab Ch. Sarwar expressed that Dr. Tahir ul Qadri has addressed the actual needs of this age by writing this Encyclopedia.

As, Dr. Qadri himself pointed out that the knowledge of the Quran has no limits and it has answers for all the times to come, therefore, it is upon us to derive meanings from it. Quranic Encyclopedia has been an attempt to redirect our scholars, researchers, and students to directly extract Divine knowledge from it.

To substantiate his argument he said on a lighter note that “I have ended the monopoly of religious scholars from Quran by writing this Encyclopedia” and Dr. Ghazal Hasan appreciated that now any person can directly seek Divine guidance without relying on any religious scholar because this encyclopedia has connected Quran with human knowledge. “We have been engulfed in darkness, and this Encyclopedia is a beacon of light”, she further added.

Dr. Farooq Satar shared his views and declared the Encyclopedia as a “corridor” which will guide us both in worldly life and the life hereafter. Former Prime Minister Azad Kashmir, Sardar Attique Khan applauded this Encyclopedia and said that it will help to counter the challenge of the “Clash of civilizations” and will serve as an important milestone in developing a global village.

Amongst all the other literary contributions of Dr. Tahir ul Qadri, this Encyclopedia is a unique work of its kind which has empowered the scholars, researchers, and students from all fields of education. Dr. Qadri deserves all the appreciation for this splendid miraculous work. He has done a great service to Islam by empowering us with the Divine source of knowledge. May Allah Almighty guide our lives in the light of Quran and help us to act upon it.

Jaweria Waheed is a graduate in International Relations from Kinnaird College. She is a member of the Editorial Board for the magazine ‘Voice of Students’ and has been a blogger with media organizations ARY News & Dunya News, Pakistan. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy.

Source: https://www.globalvillagespace.com/the-launch-of-the-quranic-encyclopedia-a-step-towards-enrichment/