Muhammad Ilyas Attar Qadri (born 1950) is a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

Islamic scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

who is the leader of

Dawat-e-Islami Dawat-e-Islami () is a Sunni Islamic organization based in Pakistan. It has several Islamic educational institutions around the world. In addition to local charity efforts, Dawat-e-Islami offers online courses in Islamic studies and runs a te ...

since its foundation. He belongs to the Qadri–Razavi order of

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

. A

Kutchi Memon Kutchi Memons are an Indian Muslim Community and an ethnic group from Kutch in Gujarat, India, who are Kutchi people speaking the Kutchi language. They are related to the Memons associated with the historic state of Kathiawar, a Muslim commun ...

, Qadri was born in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

and studied under

Ziauddin Madani Zia'uddin Madani () was an Islamic scholar and Sufi Shaykh also known as Qutb-e-Madina. He lived for the most of his life in Medina. He was born in 1877 in Sialkot and died on 2 October 1981. He was buried in Al-Baqi. He was an Islamic scholar ...

and

Muhammad Waqaruddin Qadri Muhammad Waqaruddin Qadri (1 January 1915 – 9 September 1993) also known as ''Waqar-e-Millat'' was an Islamic scholar associated with the Sunni Barelvi movement of south Asia. His fatawa (rulings) are compiled in three volume of the book titl ...

at Darul Uloom Amjadia. His Dawat-e-Islami is a non-political global organization of

Barelvi The Barelvi movement, also known as Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah (People of the Prophet's Way and the Community) is a Sunni revivalist movement that generally adheres to the Hanafi school, Hanafi and Shafi'i school, Shafi'i schools of jurisprudenc ...

Sunnis Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

spread over 195+ countries. He has around 30 million disciples all over the world.

Early life and education

His

ancestors originated from the village of Kutyanah in Junagarh, Gujarat, India. His father held various positions at the Hanafi Memon Mosque in Pakistan for an extended period. Following the establishment of Pakistan, his parents relocated to the country, initially settling in

Hyderabad, Sindh Hyderabad, also known as Neroonkot, is the capital and largest city of the Hyderabad Division in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Sindh by population, second-largest city in Sindh, after Karachi, and the List of citie ...

before eventually moving to

. Ilyas Qadri was born on July 12, 1950, in Karachi. His father, Abdur Rahman Qadri, was commonly referred to with the title "''

Haji Hajji (; sometimes spelled Hajjeh, Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. Etymology ''Hajji'' is derived from the Arabic ' (), which ...

''" due to his purported passing while undertaking the hajj pilgrimage. Qadri pursued his studies for approximately 22 years under the tutelage of the esteemed scholar

at Darul Uloom Amjadia in Karachi.

Career

Dawat-e-Islami

has contributed towards the promotion of Islamic

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

. It has established ''

madrasas Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

'' where children and adults learn and memorize the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

, and Jamia-tul-Madina where the

Dars-e-Nizami Dars-i Nizami () is a study curriculum or system used in many Islamic institutions (madrassas) and Darul Ulooms, which originated in the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century and can now also be found in parts of South Africa, Canada, the United ...

curriculum is taught. Dawat-e-Islami has departments including

Islamic Jurisprudence ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

Madani Channel Dawat-e-Islami () is a Sunni Islamic organization based in Pakistan. It has several Islamic educational institutions around the world. In addition to local charity efforts, Dawat-e-Islami offers online courses in Islamic studies and runs a te ...

, Madrasa tul Madinah, Jamia-tul-Madina, Departments of Mosque Service, Madani Inamat and Madani Qafila.

Sufism

Ilyas Qadri became a

murid In Sufism, a (Arabic ) is a novice committed to spiritual enlightenment by (traversing a path) under a spiritual guide, who may take the title , or . A or Sufi follower only becomes a when he makes a pledge () to a . The equivalent Pers ...

, himself a disciple of

Ahmad Raza Khan Ahmad Raza Khan Baraylawi (14 June 1856–28 October 1921), known reverentially as A'la Hazrat, (Grand Master), was an Islamic scholar, mufti, polymath, gnostic, poet from (undivided) India, he is considered as the founder of the Barelvi movem ...

Fazlur Rahman Malik Fazlur Rahman Malik ( ; ; September 21, 1919 – July 26, 1988), commonly known as Fazlur Rahman, was a modernist scholar and Islamic philosopher from present-day Pakistan. Recognized as a leading liberal reformer within Islam, he focused on e ...

and Waqaruddin also authorized him in Sufism. Shariful Haq Amjadi authorized him in all the four major Sufi orders,

Qadiriyyah The Qadiriyya () or the Qadiri order () is a Sunni Sufi order (''Tariqa'') founded by Abdul Qadir Gilani (1077–1166, also transliterated ''Jilani''), who was a Hanbali scholar from Gilan, Iran. The order, with its many sub-orders, is wides ...

, Chishtiyyah,

Naqshbandiyyah Naqshbandi (Persian: نقشبندیه) is a major Sufi order within Sunni Islam, named after its 14th-century founder, Baha' al-Din Naqshband. Practitioners, known as Naqshbandis, trace their spiritual lineage (silsila) directly to the Prophet ...

, and

Suhrawardiyya The Suhrawardi order (, ) is a tariqa, Sufi order founded by Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi, Abu ’l-Nad̲j̲īb Suhrawardī (died 1168). Lacking a centralised structure, it eventually divided into various branches. The order was especially prominent i ...

. Amjadi also gave him

ijazah An ''ijazah'' (, "permission", "authorization", "license"; plural: ''ijazahs'' or ''ijazat'') is a license authorizing its holder to transmit a certain text or subject, which is issued by someone already possessing such authority. It is particul ...

to transmit

ahadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

Books

The author of some 30 books, along with his major work '' Faizan-e-Sunnat'' in 2 volumes and more than 2000 pages, his other publications include: * ''Laws of Ṣalāĥ'' * ''Priceless Diamonds'' * ''Cure for Anger'' * ''I want to rectify myself'' * ''Method of becoming Pious'' * ''Cure for Sins'' * ''Test of the Grave''

Criticism

# Media Adaptation: #* Initially opposed TV and pictures but later embraced them through his channel, Madani Channel. This shift deviated from the views of

Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi Ahmad Raza Khan Baraylawi (14 June 1856–28 October 1921), known reverentially as A'la Hazrat, (Grand Master), was an Islamic scholar, mufti, polymath, gnostic, poet from (undivided) India, he is considered as the founder of the Barelvi move ...

, whom he claims to follow. # Sectarian Divisions and Extremism: #* Accused of promoting sectarian divisions and animosity, particularly towards

Shia Muslims Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

. #* Ilyas Qadri has faced

allegation In law, an allegation is a claim of an unproven fact by a party in a pleading, charge, or defense. Until they can be proved, allegations remain merely assertions. Types of allegations Marital allegations There are also marital allegations: m ...

s related to

extremism Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied sha ...

and controversial statements. These include supporting extrajudicial killings of blasphemers. His affiliation with individuals involved in violent incidents, has raised concerns. like #** Salman Taseer's Murder:

Mumtaz Qadri Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri (1985 – 29 February 2016), better known as Mumtaz Qadri (, ), was a Pakistani Elite Police commando who is known for murdering Salmaan Taseer, Governor of Punjab, Pakistan, Governor of Punjab. Qadri was a commando ...

, associated with

, murdered Pakistani governor

Salman Taseer Salman Taseer (; 4 January 2011) was a Pakistani businessman and politician, who served as the 34th Governor of Punjab from 2008 until his assassination in 2011. A member of the Pakistan Peoples Party since the 1980s, he was elected to the ...

. Ilyas Qadri declared Killer a ‘ghazi’. #** Udaipur, India Incident: Ghouse Mohammad, connected to

, was involved in a brutal murder in

Udaipur Udaipur (Hindi: , ) (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura'') is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, about south of the state capital Jaipur. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Udaipur district. It is the historic capital of t ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The investigation led to the detention of five individuals, including the two prime accused.

Notes

References

External links

Dawat-e-Islami Maulana Ilyas Qadri
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qadri, Ilyas 21st-century Islamic religious leaders Pakistani Muslim missionaries Memon people Scholars from Karachi Pakistani clergy 1950 births Living people Founders of Pakistani schools and colleges 21st-century Muslim scholars of Islam Sufi mystics Poets from Karachi Islamic television preachers Pakistani religious writers Pakistani YouTubers Barelvis Pakistani people of Gujarati descent Muhajir people Kutchi people Dawat-e-Islami people