A public talk was held recently at Muhammad bin Hamad Center for Muslim Contribution to Civilisation, a research centre of Hamad bin Khalifa University’s Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS), under the title “Gilani’s Model of the Study of
Religions”.
The talk was presented by Dr Mohamed Modassir Ali, who works as research co-ordinator at the
centre.
Dr Modassir started by introducing Sheikh Manazir Ahsan Gilani’s life and academic career, and then went on to talk about his model for the study of
religions.
He said Gilani emphasised the universality of revelation, the brotherhood of humanity through the brotherhood of prophets and the eternity of basic religious truths as the three basic principles that ought to guide a Muslim’s study of other religions.
Dr Modassir pointed out that Gilani’s starting point was the simple Qur’anic testimony that the religion in the eyes of Allah is Islam (the religion of all prophets). He also elaborated on how Islam, as the last and final religion revealed upon Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), merely acknowledged and authenticated the truths of the previous religions and called its followers to seek the original message of truth, realising that it was essentially one and the same based on the Oneness of God.
Dr Modassir then went on to show, through Gilani’s writings, how he brings out this aspect by comparing Islam to Hinduism with respect to their commonalities.
The talk was followed by a question-and-answer session in which several students and faculty members participated with their comments and critique.