Islamabad - President of Pakistan and Chancellor International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI), Mamnoon Hussain has urged Muslim scholars and researchers to portray the true image of Islam before the world.
He was addressing the 10th convocation of International Islamic University Islamabad here at Jinnah Convention centre yesterday. The convocation was organised for the male students of the university where 5,620 graduating students including 484 overseas students were conferred upon degrees, while the President of Pakistan also awarded 115 gold medals and 81 PhD degrees to the male students in varsity’s mega event.
President Mamnoon said in his speech that Islam preaches the message of peace, harmony and brotherhood, but certain misguided and bigoted elements have tainted the very image of great religion with their flawed narratives. These elements are a scar on the face of humanity.
The President said being followers of Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), there is a need to inculcate and project the image of Islam in its true perspective. He stressed upon the Ummah to shun the petty differences and strive hard for the peace and safety of the whole world.
The President noted that under such prevailing circumstances, the role of thinkers, teachers and students of the IIUI had assumed great importance.
Certain misled elements had wrecked havoc with their actions by misinterpreting teachings of Islam and their terrorist activities also brought lawlessness in the Muslim societies, he added. President Mamnoon urged the teachers and researchers to fully concentrate on finding solutions to the problems being faced by the Muslim Ummah.
He opined that time had come to formulate a collective counterterrorism narrative and a joint stance to tackle such issues and in this connection, teachers, researchers and thinkers would have to play an important role. He urged the IIUI and its allied departments to contemplate over the burning issues confronting the Muslim world and offer before the world, practical solutions to all such ills.
He said extremist tendencies and terrorism have inflicted huge sufferings and pain to the humanity and time has come to collectively foil their sordid designs. He furthered that universities can pave the way for the country’s success if they have best teachers, well-designed curriculum and better facilities.
While congratulating the students, the IIUI Chancellor said that country is proud of them and hoped that graduating students will contribute in the country’s progress in future with the positive deeds by applying teachings which were imbued in their mind by the varsity in the light of Islamic teachings.
President Mamnoon hailed IIUI for providing quality education to students according to the contemporary needs while saying that university has been nurturing young minds with latest knowledge integrated with Islamic values.
Speaking in the ceremony, IIUI Rector Dr Masoom Yasinzai said that IIUI from its very inception aims at becoming a leading international centre of educational excellence and the university’s objective has been to integrate revealed and acquired knowledge and aspiring, to restore the leading role of Muslims in education and knowledge creation.
He added that Islamic character of the university integrating it with the modern day sciences and technology is its special feature. The IIUI rector said that as an International Islamic University, the varsity’s approach is focused on moderation and harmony, adding that the mandate of this university, by no standards, either encourages terrorism or supports it by any means as the only message our community would like to extend is to foster international peace and tranquillity.
Dr Yasinzai said that amid varsity’s rapid growth over the last one decade, physical capacity has shortened and its management is on consolidation mission as efforts are under way to have a very strong Waqf for IIUI. He further said that a Mega PC-1 for new academic blocks and laboratories is tabled and awaits the decision of the Planning Commission, while the university is also mobilising its international finance committee for the establishment of a 10-megawatts solar power plant on IIUI campus.
Dr Ahmed Yousif Al-Draiweesh also spoke to the ceremony and said that university strives to build bridges between the traditional knowledge and the latest technologies, paying equal attention to the Islamic heritage and the engineering and technology which is need of the time as it helps avoid the clash of civilisations through the rejection of extremism, prejudice and terrorism in the light of divine teachings.
“After conferring degrees to the 11,644 students in 10th mega event of varsity, a total number of graduated students in all convocations will reach 38,002,” Dr Al-Draiweesh furthered. He added that 5,620 male students and 6,024 female students will get their degrees in the IIUI 10th convocation that will last for two days. He said that a total number of 110 PhD degrees will be conferred in this event, while number of foreign graduated students at IIUI in the 10th convocation will be 629.
The IIUI President also said that there are 676 highly qualified, experienced and committed faculty members including 51 from brotherly Islamic countries.
The convocation was also attended by the university’s members of board of trustees, members BoG, vice presidents, director general AF&P, deans and directors.