Al-Qadir varsity to become research hub, hopes PM Imran Khan

SOHAWA: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said education is vital for nation’s progress, hoping Al-Qadir University will become a research hub and character-building facility on the golden principles of Islam.

Addressing at an interactive session with educationists, Islamic thinkers, scholars and parliamentarians at Al-Qadir University, the prime minister said the research to be carried out at the institution would later be disseminated to educational institutes across the country.

Two years ago, he had laid the foundation-stone of the university in name of great sufi saint of Islam, Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, with an objective to make the institution a cradle of science and spirituality.

Imran Khan said currently, the Islamic studies, being taught at the schools, were beyond the comprehension of students, thus, had no relevance with the correct interpretation of the Islamic faith.

He said the Al-Qadir University will start its academic activities by September, and making Islamic scholars of such international pedestal, including Syed Nasir Hussain and Hamza Yousuf, as part of the university’s board for their worthy guidance.

He said to train the knowledgeable and talented youth with moral strength was the need of the hour.The prime minister said he wanted to transform the system of Al-Qadir University similar to that of Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, one of the prestigious institutions of the world.

He desired the introduction of scholarships for hardworking and brilliant students at Al-Qadir University to help them carry out studies and contribute to the development of country.

Besides taking inspiration from the West in technological development, he said there were several aspects of their culture such as truth and honesty that merited replication, except their flawed family system promoting disintegration in the eastern society.

Imran Khan proposed the Al-Qadir University to carry out research on the concept of Islam’s first welfare state ‘Medina’ that was based on the principles of socio-economic justice and high moral standards.

Later, the prime minister, flanked by the Minister for Science and Technology, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, and MNA Farrukh Altaf, planted a sapling in the premises of Al-Qadir University for an olive orchard.

So far, the Sufi and Research blocks at the university have been completed, while two other academic blocks, hostel and faculty residences are presently under construction. Under the Miyawaki urban forest project, around 16,500 trees would be planted at the university premises, including 1,000 olive and another 34,500 saplings to be planted in the vicinity.