The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony and Muslim Institute jointly organised a seminar titled “Mevlana Rumi and Allama Iqbal” in Lahore on Friday.
Turkey’s Presidency of Religious Affairs President Dr Ali Erbaş, Pakistan’s Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Noor-ul-Haq Qadri, Muslim Institute Chairman Sahibzada Sultan Ahmed Ali, GCU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi and University of Sargodha Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Saleem Mazhar were speakers at the event.
The speakers said that in order to combat Islamophobia and extremism, it is necessary to bring the true face of Islam in front of the world.
They said Pakistan and Turkey must work together to promote the thoughts of Iqbal and Rumi.
They added that Iqbal and Rumi are the real face of not only Pakistan and Turkey but also the Muslim community across the world.
They said that Iqbal’s words are read by world leaders in their speeches and many monuments are attributed to him all over the world, adding that Rumi’s poetry is a manifestation of divine love and his universality is also evident from the fact that he is one of the best-selling poets in the West.
They further said that in their respective eras, Iqbal and Rumi played important roles in overcoming frustration created by political situations and even today “we have to take advantage of their thinking to get out of confusions”.
Foreign delegates, academics, parliamentarians, scholars and researchers from various institutions, analysts, lawyers and media representatives attended the seminar.
