AIOU takes steps to counter Islamophobia, enlighten society

Islamabad: Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) is going to establish four different centres of excellence with varying objectives ranging from countering the growing Islamophobia especially in the Western world, to raise the analytical level of discourse in the Muslim scholarly community; to disseminate the philosophy and thought of Allama Muhammad Iqbal; to produce oral histories and train oral historians; and to promote Sufi thought based on the principles of love, peace, and equality.

Executive Council, the supreme body of the university in its 120th meeting held here the other day under the chairmanship of Prof Dr Zia Ul Qayyum, Vice Chancellor AIOU gave formal approval for the establishment of Centres of Excellence of Seerat Studies, Sufi Studies, Iqbal Chair of Muslim Thoughts, and Creating Achieves Intelligentsia of Pakistan. While explaining the objectives of the Centres of Excellence of Seerat Studies, Prof Dr Zia Ul-Qayyum said that the proposed Centre would help the Pakistani society as well as the Muslims around the world by forming research groups and working as a think tank to provide a logical response to those who are propagating negatively against Islam and the Muslims.

The centre will also play a key role in countering the intellectual challenges faced by Pakistan society in the light of Seerat-un-Nabi ?. The centre will engage eminent Muslim scholars across the globe in the creation, and transfer of knowledge in the field of Seerat Stuides, he added. Similarly, the Centre of Excellence on Sufi Studies will conduct academic research on Sufi tradition in Pakistan as well as South Aisa. It will study the lives of Sufi saints to highlight their character traits. This centre will also take initiatives to organize national and international dialogues on Sufi thoughts, the meeting was briefed.

Prof. Zia Ul-Qayyum while highlighting the objectives of Iqbal Chair of Muslim Thoughts said that this centre will provide an opportunity to scholars to deliberate on the philosophical thought of Allama Muhammad Iqbal through his poetry and prose in Urdu and Persian, to inculcate Iqbal’s concept of ‘Khudi’ in Muslim youth in general and Pakistani in particular. The main objectives of the establishment of the Archives of Intelligentsia of Pakistan are to preserve the oral history collection of eminent scholars of the country, and to train oral historians, Dr Zia said. He informed the meeting that these centres would generate and disseminate knowledge in the form of books and research articles.