Introduction
Al-Mawrid has been engaged in promoting research and education in Islamic Studies in the society since the early 1980s. This institution owes its establishment to the perception that the process of attaining the true understanding of Islam is not being carried out in our ummah in a judicious and appropriate manner. Lost in the maze of sectarian prejudices and political wrangling, the message of Islam based only on the Qur’an and Sunnah has become alien to Muslims.
We, at Al-Mawrid, feel that the biggest challenge facing Muslims is the revival of our great but lost heritage of academic excellence. Hence the objectives of the institute are to conduct and facilitate academic and research work on Islamic Sciences, to educate people on its basis and to publish and disseminate it through all available means.
A brief detail of our current and future projects is as under:
I Current Projects
a) Research
Abdus Sattar Ghauri has been working on various projects related to Biblical Studies for the last three decades and has recently completed his book: Muhammad Foretold in the Bible by Name. Currently, he is working on the Urdu translation of the second edition of his earlier book: The Only Son offered for Sacrifice, Isaac or Ishmael.
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi has been working on various research projects on Islam. Of high legal, social and political import amongst his works are Mizan (Scale), a comprehensive book on his understanding of Islam, and Burhan (Conclusive Argument), a collection of his critiques on contemporary religious viewpoints. His ongoing annotated translation of the Qur’an, al-Bayan (The Exposition) is indispensable to the understanding of his approach in exegesis.
Moiz Amjad is working on the project of Compilation of Comprehensive Hadith Texts. This is a unique research work in its approach: it consists of the compilation of all variant texts of a narrative on a particular topic appearing in seventeen major compilations of Hadith and then molding these variant texts into one comprehensive narrative. This work is being carried out in both Urdu and English with brief notes on the compiled Hadith.
Asif Iftikhar is currently working on completion of a comparative study of Javed Ahmad Ghamidi and Abu al-A‘la Mawdudi in relation to their interpretive approaches as applied to the theory of jihād and the state. This work is based on Mr Iftikhar’s Master’s thesis at the McGill University, Canada. He is also a PhD candidate at McGill where his dissertation focus is on the Islamic legal development in Pakistan.
Shehzad Saleem has taken up research on the History of the Qur’an, a part of which also forms his doctoral thesis from the University of Wales, UK. His work addresses some nagging questions related to the revelation, collection and transmission of the Qur’an. These questions include narratives found in our legacy on the incompleteness of the Qur’an, scribal errors found in it, its variant readings, chronology of its compilation, order of the surahs, and manuscript studies.
b) Literature and Academics
Ammar Khan Nasir and his assistants are working on the preparation of explanatory articles and essays on various aspects of Islam, which includes a comparative as well as a critical analysis of Ghamidi’s treatise on Islam: Mizan.
Under the supervision of Manzoor ul Hassan various lectures of Javed Ah)mad Ghamidi are being transcribed in the form of explanatory articles. With the assistance of Moazzam Safdar, Manzoor ul Hassan also oversees the editing and formatting of various books which are published by the institute.
A Query Section is also working under this department. Rafi Mufti and Talib Mohsin along with others give answers to questions received through emails, letters and websites.
A Translation Section is working on the English translations of the various works of the Farahi school. Currently, Jhangeer Hanif and Tariq Mahmood Hashmi have been assigned this translation work.
c) Education
Work being done for the cause of Islamic Education includes arrangement of various Workshops in Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad and Karachi. The topics touch important religious, philosophical and ethical issues facing our society. These workshops aim to persuade people to acquire knowledge about Islam, to bring them closer to its truer understanding and to encourage them to support it.
Currently, a nine-month (three-semester) course for ladies is also being conducted at the premises of Al-Mawrid. Teachers include Dr Khalid Zaheer, Rafi Mufti, Talib Mohsin, Sami Mufti, Sajid Hameed, Mrs Kaukab Shehzad and Hafiz Muhammad Ibrahim.
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Dr. Khalid Zaheer, Dr. Munir Ahmed, Sajid Hameed and Mrs. Kaukab Shehzad participate in various talk shows and discussions on Islam that are aired on various channels.
In addition, our scholars are regularly invited as guest speakers on various occasions and at institutes, schools, colleges and universities such as Civil Services Academy, NIPA, Pakistan Administrative Staff College, LUMS, and the Punjab University.
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi also regularly meets people from all walks of life throughout the week, except for Thursdays and Sundays, between 12 noon and 1pm. Dr Khalid Zaheer and Mrs. Kaukab Shehzad, conduct regular weekly Qur’an classes in Lahore as well as in Karachi.
d) Operations
Besides administration and management, the Operations Department of the institute is involved in the marketing of various books published by the institute. High quality DVDs and CDs of various lectures are also being produced for global distribution.
We are in the process of revamping our website, www.al-mawrid.org. Furthermore, we have developed a new website, www.tv-almawrid.org, which aims to carry all audio and video lectures of scholars and associates of the institute.
A series of programs has been planned for production based on our understanding of Islam and on the current issues faced by people. The idea is to promote Islamic education in an easy to understand language for the consumption of the masses. For this, a modern studio is being built in the premises of the institute.
e) Affiliated Concerns
“Understanding Islam” (www.understanding-islam.org) has taken up the task of explaining Islam in the light of the Qur’an and Sunnah and in answering questions on or about Islam.
“Studying Islam” (www.studying-islam.org) offers distance learning courses on Islam and Islamic Studies.
Biographical sites on the life and works of Amin Ahsan Islahi (www.amin-ahsan-islahi.com) and Javed Ahmad Ghamidi (www.ghamidi.org) are providing information to the society.
Dr Khalid Zaheer’s personal website (www.khalidzaheer.com) carries his articles, lectures and answers to various questions.
A website (www.humsubdost.org) caters for the grooming and entertainment of the young generation.
Ishraq (www.ghamidi.org), in Urdu, and Renaissance (www.monthly-renaissance.com), in English, are our two monthly journals. A wide range of latest research, articles, critiques and their responses appear in these journals.
Mr. Rehan Yusufi publishes Ishraq Da‘wah edition from Al-Mawrid Center, Karachi.
II. Future Projects
a) Institute of Islamic Sciences
This is our dream project. The need for such an institute that has the potential to produce good scholars with a thorough understanding of slam needs no elaboration. Our ummah is devoid of such scholars and the masses are ignorant, confused, or ill informed. Al-Mawrid plans to set up an institute which will offer Bachelors, Masters and eventually PhD degrees to students in Islamic Sciences.
b) Chain of Schools
Our goal, in line with our mission to educate the society, is to set up a chain of schools in Pakistan, which groom children who are not only well versed in English, Urdu, Social Studies and physical and social sciences but also have high morals and are aware of their religious heritage. In the near future, we plan to open one school in Karachi and one in Lahore.
c) Training Institutes
This is an extremely important project as teachers play a pivotal role in the character building of a nation. We have developed short and medium term courses to train teachers for our new schools, as well as for teachers from other schools, colleges and universities. The objective is to drive home the basic message of Islam, clarify confusions and communicate to them the ethics it teaches. Besides training teachers, we also plan to offer courses for all interested individuals, but we want to focus especially on women and children.
d) Weekend Schools
In order to educate children and instruct children of various schools, we plan to offer a weekend school program for this purpose.
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The institute is run by a board of governors. It has a customized ERP system in place for professional and transparent accounts management. Accounts are audited every year. Donors may obtain tax exemption for their contributions to Al-Mawrid.
We need your support, in any form, for the above mentioned ongoing and upcoming projects. Your criticism and feedback is also welcome. The challenges that the Muslim ummah faces in the present times are numerous. We believe that the most significant amongst them is to present the correct understanding of Islam to both Muslims and non-Muslims and to educate people on that understanding and also to open careers for young minds in Islamic Studies. Al-Mawrid has therefore dedicated itself to the task of Islamic research and education. We invite you to take a closer look at what we are doing and, in case you feel convinced that we are undertaking a worthwhile effort, extend a helping hand to our efforts.
Contact information
Salman Hafeez
Director Operations
51-K Model Town,
Lahore, Pakistan
Phones: +92 42 586 5145 / 583 4306 / 585 7528-9 / 0321 44 55 970
Email:
almawridbrain.net.pk
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