Dr Qibla Ayaz assumes charge as CII chairman

Islamabad: Professor Dr Qibla Ayaz, former dean of Faculty of Islamic and Oriental Studies of the University of Peshawar, has assumed the charge of Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) chairman on Tuesday.

Dr Ayaz made laudable efforts in bridging the gap between religious scholars and modern researchers during his last tenure as CII chairman (2017-2020). The CII is a constitutional body that advises the legislature whether or not a certain law is repugnant to Islam, namely to the Qur’an and Sunnah.

As per law, the CII should have a minimum of eight and maximum of 20 members, including its chairman. The basic criterion for the appointment of CII members is that they should represent various schools of thought, having knowledge of the principles and philosophy of Islam as enunciated in the Holy Quran and Sunnah or having an understanding of the economic, political, legal or administrative problems of Pakistan. It is considered that at least two of the members of the council have to be sitting or retired judges of the Supreme Court or High Court and one member should be a woman, while at least four members should be scholars who have remained engaged in Islamic research or instruction for at least 15 years.

The eleven new members of the council including Dr Umair Mahmood Siddiqui, Pir Abul Hassan Muhammad Shah, Hassan Haseebur Rehman, Maulana Hameedul Haq Haqqani, Allama Muhammad Hussain Akbar, Syed Ziaullah Shah Bukhari, Pirzada Junaid Amin, Hafiz Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, Mufti Muhamamd Zubair, Syed Habib Irfani and Maulana Nasim Ali Shah will assume their responsibilities on Wednesday.