Tahir ul-Qadri
| Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri | |
|---|---|
| محمد طاہر القادری | |
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| Founder Minhaj-ul-Quran International | |
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Assumed office October 1981 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri 19 February 1951 Jhang, Pakistan |
| Citizenship | Canadian, Pakistani |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Alma mater | University of the Punjab |
| Occupation | Scholar, politician |
| Website | drtahirulqadri |
Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri (Urdu: محمد طاہر القادری; born 19 February 1951) is a Pakistani politician and Sunni Islamic scholar. He was also a professor of international constitutional law at the University of the Punjab. Qadri is also the founding chairman of Minhaj-ul-Quran International and also of Minhaj Institute of Qira'at and Tafizul Quran. Qadri has delivered more than 8000 lectures on various topics including radicalism and has been given the honorific title Shaykh al-Islām.
Qadri was born on the 19th of February in 1951 in the Jhang district of Pakistan. He received both an Islamic and secular education from his father and other scholars in Pakistan and abroad including Syed Tahir Alauddin Al-Qadri Al-Gillani. From the age of 12 he obtained a formal classical Islamic education at the Madrasa al-'Ulum ash-Shariyya in Madinah. He also received a First Class degree, an MA in Islamic Studies and a PHd in Islamic Law from the University of Punjab where he worked as a lecturer and then as Professor of Law.
On 25 May 1981, Qadri founded a political party, Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT). In 1990, Qadri participated in the national election.
He was also elected as a Member of the National Assembly for his constituency. On 29 November 2004, Qadri announced his resignation as a Member of the National Assembly protesting the counterterrorism policies of the then President Pervez Musharraf. In 2005 he moved to Canada.
In December 2012, after living for seven years in Toronto, Canada, Qadri returned to Pakistan and initiated a political campaign. Qadri called for a "million-men" march in Islamabad to protest against the government's corruption. On 14 January 2013, a crowd marched down the city's main avenue. Thousands of people pledged to sit-in until their demands were met. When he started the long march from Lahore about 25,000 people were with him. He told the rally in front of parliament: "There is no Parliament; there is a group of looters, thieves and dacoits [bandits] ... Our lawmakers are the lawbreakers.". After four days of sit-in, the Government and Qadri signed an agreement called the Islamabad Long March Declaration, which promised electoral reforms and increased political transparency. Although Qadri called for a "million-men" march, the estimated total present for the sit-in in Islamabad was 50,000 according to the government.
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