Islamabad - Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has evolved a plan to promote teachings of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) through academic pursuits.
This was announced by the University’s Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Shahid Siddiqui while addressing the concluding session of two-day International Seerat Conference arranged in a conncetion with Eid-Mild-un-Nabi. Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed was the chief guest on the occasion, who underlined the important role of educational institutions, teachers and Imams sensitizing and motivating the young generation to follow the righteous path, as enshrined in Quran and Sunnah.
Under the plan, Dr Shahid Siddiqui said students of MA, MPhil and PhD will be given an option to do specialized study on Seerat. International Seerat conference will be an annual feature. A special conference will also be arranged to focus on Hadith and their importance.
Besides this, an annual award will be given on best Seerat book and a special journal on Islamic Studies will be published soon. The University has already started series of lectures on `Seerat-un-Nabi’ with name of Khutbath-e-Islamabad. The conference was attended by number of scholars from home and abroad, who deliberated upon various aspects of Seerat-un-Nabi, through their research-based articles.
They called for establishing a society based on Islamic concept of social justice. Dr Mukhtar Ahmed announced that `Seerat Chair’ will be established soon at the country’s major Universities providing opportunity to the students to learn more about the life and sayings of the Holy prophet (PBUH). Strictly adhering to `Sunnat-e-Rasool’ is the only way out to overcome present-day socio-economic problems, said Leader of the House in the Senate, Senator Raja Zafarul Haq at the inaugural session.
The Muslims should seek aspirations and guidance from the life and teaching of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) to have true happiness and successful life, he added. He appreciated initiative on the part of AIOU for arranging the event which he hoped would help to motivate the young generation to follow a right path, Minister of State for Education Engineer Balighur Rehman who was the chief guest at the inaugural session spoke highly about the significance of the `Sunnat-e-Nabvi’ and said people are needed to find solution of their problems from teachings of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The conference was also addressed by the Dean Faculty of Arabic and Islamic Studies Dr Ali Asghar Chishti and the coordinator of the conference Dr Mohiyuddin Hashimi who highlighted the objectives of the conference and thanked the participants for taking keen interest in advancing the teachings of the Holy prophet (PBUH).