Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri (born 19 February 1951) is a Pakistani–Canadian Islamic scholar and former politician. He is the founder and chief patron of Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI) since 1980. He also founded the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and served as its leader from 1989 to 2019.
Born in Jhang, West Punjab, Qadri studied classical Islamic sciences under numerous Islamic scholars throughout the Muslim world, gaining more than 500 and in various fields of Islamic knowledge. After graduating from University of the Punjab, he served as a professor of international constitutional law at the university. Hix expertise in Islamic jurisprudence led him to being appointed as a jurist consult on sharia law for the Supreme Court and the Federal Shariat Court. Qadri laid foundation to Minhaj-ul-Quran International in 1980, Minhaj University Lahore in 1986 and Minhaj Welfare Foundation in 1989. In the same year, he also founded the Pakistan Awami Tehreek political party and successfully contested the 1990 Pakistani general election, serving as Member of the National Assembly until 2004 when he resigned in protest against President Pervez Musharraf's policies. After conflicts with "the Establishment", Qadri relocated to Canada in 2005 and began refocusing on religion.
Qadri returned to Pakistan in 2012 and led the Long March against Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in January 2013. In the aftermath of the Model Town incident in June 2014, Qadri spearheaded the Inqilab March against Gilani's successor Nawaz Sharif. In 2019, he announced his retirement from politics due to health issues and profound academic commitments. Since then, he has continued to give religious lectures in Canada.
A highly prolific writer, Qadri has authored more than 1,000 books in Urdu, Arabic and English. He has delivered over 6,000 lectures and has been featured in every edition of The 500 Most Influential Muslims since its first edition in 2009. In 2012, he was one of the reported nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize for his opposition to extremism and promotion of inter-faith dialogue.
Early life and education Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri was born on 19 February 1951 in Jhang, a city in Punjab, Pakistan, into a Punjabi Muslim family with a strong scholarly and spiritual heritage. His father, Dr. Farid-ud-Din Qadri, was a respected physician, Sufi poet, and religious scholar who emphasized both secular and Islamic education for his son.
Early Education Qadri’s early education blended religious and secular instruction. He attended the Sacred Heart School, a Catholic mission school in Jhang, where he learned English and gained exposure to Christianity.
Concurrently, he began formal Islamic studies under his father at age 10, focusing on classical texts and Sufi practices. At 12, he traveled to Medina, Saudi Arabia, to enroll at Madrasa al-‘Ulum ash-Shar‘iyya, situated in the historic residence of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. This institution provided rigorous training in Quranic exegesis (tafsir), Hadith, jurisprudence (fiqh), and Arabic language.
He also studied classical Islamic sciences under eminent scholars around the world, including in Makkah, Madinah, Syria, Baghdad, Lebanon, Morocco, India, and Pakistan, receiving around 500 authorities and chains of transmission in various branches of Islamic knowledge. He learned under Mawlana Ziauddin Madani (d. 1981, aged 107) and studied Hadith from Muhaddith al-Hijaz al-Sayyid ‘Alawi ibn ‘Abbas al-Maliki al-Makki (d. 1971). Additionally, al-Shaykh al-Sayyid ‘Alawi's son, the late muhaddith of al-Hijaz, al-Sayyid Muhammad 'Alawi al-Maliki (d. 2004), gave Qadri all of his father's ijazas and isnads in written form, which had been previously received verbally, as well as his own chains of transmission.
Higher education and academic career
Returning to Pakistan, Qadri pursued higher education at the University of the Punjab in Lahore. He earned a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 1974, followed by a Master of Arts (MA) in Islamic Studies in 1972, where he received the university’s Gold Medal for academic excellence. He later completed a PhD in Islamic Law in 1986, focusing on constitutional and jurisprudential frameworks within Islamic tradition.
During his academic tenure, Qadri became the youngest professor in the university’s history, teaching British, American, and Islamic constitutional law. He also served on the university’s Syndicate, Senate, and Academic Council, its highest governing bodies.
Legal and scholarly contributions Before entering academia full-time, Qadri practiced law in Jhang’s district courts. His expertise in Islamic jurisprudence led to his appointment as a Jurist Consult for Pakistan’s Supreme Court and Federal Shariat Court, where he influenced landmark rulings on issues such as blasphemy laws and gender equality in blood money () cases.
Influences and ideological foundations Qadri’s intellectual development was shaped by his father’s Sufi teachings and his studies under scholars like Tahir Allauddin Al-Qadri Al-Gillani and Maulana Ziauddin Madani.
Notable early works By his late 20s, Qadri had already authored significant texts on Islamic law and theology, including Islamic Penal System and its Philosophy (1986), reflecting his early engagement with contemporary legal debates.
Founding of Minhaj-ul-Quran International
Minhaj-ul-Quran International is an organization established on 17 October 1980, with branches in over a hundred countries. The organization states that its mission is to promote religious moderation, effective education, inter-faith dialogue and harmony, and a moderate interpretation of Islam, drawing on methods of Sufism. In March 2011, the United Nations Economic and Social Council granted special consultative status to Minhaj-ul-Quran International.
Political career
In May 1989, he founded Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and successfully contested elections in 1990, becoming a Member of the National Assembly. However, on 29 November 2004, Qadri announced his resignation from the National Assembly of Pakistan in protest of the counter-terrorism policies of then-President Pervez Musharraf, whom he viewed as dictatorial. Subsequently, in 2005, he relocated to Canada.Tahir ul-Qadri: A political 'enigma' aljazeera.com
Long March 2012
In December 2012, after residing in Toronto, Canada for seven years, Qadri returned to Pakistan and launched a political campaign. He called for a "million-men" march in Islamabad to protest against the government's corruption. He demanded the establishment of an independent body to conduct electoral reforms, with the aim of ensuring free and fair elections. Additionally, he stated that if the constitutional requirements were not met, he would reject the upcoming elections.
On 14 January 2013, a crowd marched down the city's main avenue, with thousands of people pledging to engage in a sit-in until their demands were met.
When he commenced the long march from Lahore, approximately 50,000 people accompanied him. He addressed the rally in front of parliament, stating, "There is no Parliament; there is a group of looters, thieves, and dacoits.. Our lawmakers are the lawbreakers." After four days of sit-in, the Government and Qadri signed an agreement called the Islamabad Long March Declaration, which promised electoral reforms and increased political transparency.
Critics have alleged that the protests were a ploy by the Pakistan Armed Forces to delay elections and undermine the influence of the civilian government. They have pointed to Qadri's close ties to the military, dual nationality, and questionable foreign and Pakistani sources of funding as evidence to support their claims.Arab News, "Pak crisis deepends: PM arrest ordered as rally shakes capital," front page, Vol. XXXVIII, #45. Wednesday, 16 January 2013 Lawyers for the Supreme Court of Pakistan asserted that Qadri's demands are unfeasible because they conflict with the Constitution of Pakistan. The Tribune reported on 17 February 2013, that Qadri seemed to have capitulated on most of his demands in the Islamabad Long March Declaration.
Long March 2014
On 17 June 2014, a violent clash occurred between the Punjab Police and Pakistan Awami Tehreek activists resulting in the deaths of several protesters from police gunfire. Tahir-ul-Qadri said the police refused to log a First Information Report. The Baqir Najfi inquiry found that police actively participated in the massacre to remove barriers that were installed on orders of the High Court.
Tahir-ul-Qadri's flight was scheduled to land at Islamabad airport; however, the Pakistani authorities denied landing permission, leading to the plane being diverted to Lahore airport. Tahir-ul-Qadri expressed concerns about potential harm from the Government of Punjab, and was personally escorted by the convoy of the Governor of Punjab to his residence in Model Town, Lahore.
As of the end of September 2014, the Inqilab March began, with sit-in protests with allied partner Imran Khan, chairman and founder of Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and organiser of 2014 Azadi March, in the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad."'Revolution March' to Begin on August 14: Tahirul Qadri" , The News International, 10 August 2014.
Imran Khan and Tahir-ul-Qadri did not fully join their protest marches nor decline to support each other. On 10 August 2014, Qadri formally announced that his party's political march, the Inqilab March, would proceed parallel with PTI's Azadi march. Both marches were organised to take different routes, albeit closely mirroring each other. It is apparent that the two parties have similar objectives yet different aims and strategies. The announcement of two parallel marches by parties in opposition gave rise to speculation that a coalition between PTI and PAT was possible. The chiefs of the two parties never clearly stipulated a formal coalition; but an informal agreement to support each other was achieved.
On 21 August 2014, Qadri said that the government had not been allowing his workers to supply food items and potable water to the participants of the sit-in.
The Daily Dawn of 31 August 2014 claimed that hundreds of people were injured in the federal capital as police battled throngs of protesters led by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek.
Then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif to act as a mediator. General Raheel Sharif met with Tahir-ul-Qadri and Imran Khan to end the sit-in. It was due to the intervention of General Raheel Sharif that the police report was logged. Tahir-ul-Qadri congratuled his supporters in their struggle for justice.
It was reported that Tahir-ul-Qadri led the Eid prayer at Islamabad's D-Chowk. The congregation was attended by Imran Khan and other political leaders, including Raja Nasir Abbas Jafary of MWM. Animal sacrifies were also offered in the name of God following the sunnah of Ibrahim and his son Ismail.
On 14 September 2019, Qadri announced his retirement from politics and transferred leadership of the PAT to the party's council.
Events Anti-Terrorism Camp In August 2010, Qadri held an anti-terrorism camp for Muslim youth at the University of Warwick with the aim of tackling extremism in the UK. He organised the camp under the auspices of Minhaj-ul-Quran UK.
World Economic Forum
In 2011, he spoke at the WEF that took place in Davos, Switzerland.
Lahore Public Gathering 2014 Seven days after the Faisalabad Gathering, Qadri made a public gathering in Lahore on 19 October 2014.
Lahore Clash 2014