Hundreds of Muslims visited the Bowman Hall Blacktown, Sydney, Australia on Sunday, 14th of March 2010, for a prestigious celebration conference to mark the birth anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him). The Birthday is celebrated by millions of Muslims around the world via recitation of Naat and programs of Mawlid-un-Nabi (blessings and peace be upon him). The day is a national holiday in many countries including Syria, Libya, Egypt, Morocco and Pakistan among others and is traditionally referred to as Mawlid al-Nabi.

The conference was addressed by an Australian guest speaker Al-Shaykh Maulana Mohammad Amin, who is serving for the Ahle Sunnat community and its unity in Sydney. He congratulated Minhaj-ul-Quran Australia and said that the organisers of the conference are really fortunate and lucky people to share the love and celebrate the Mawlid of the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) in such a beautiful manner. In his speech he praised the Hasb and Nasb (family tree) of Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) and said that it was protected by Allah Almighty from all sorts of bad acts and sins. Praising Rasoolullah (blessings and peace be upon him), he said that the Prophet achieved the highest ranks of human perfection and erased the darkness of cruelty with his beauty. He emphasised that everyone must practice the teachings and sunnah of the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) and particularly all the sunnah, customs, and traditions relevant to his Mawlid.

The chief guest for the conference was Sahibzada Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri, member of Supreme Council Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI). During his speech on “Noor of the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) is the Spirit and Life of the Universe”, he said that every thing in this universe has two sides of it, the physical appearance and the spiritual existence. He gave an example of human body, which is the physical part and the soul that keeps it alive is the spiritual part and when the spirit or soul departs the physical body, the body becomes dead or still. He said that in the similar way, this whole universe has a physical body and a spirit or a soul. The physical body “consists of earth, moon, sun, stars, planets, and galaxies that shine around the sky and all these physical parts of the universe are systematically integrated and working in an order.” It also has a soul or spirit which is keeping the whole universe live and moving. He said that “the soul and spirit that keeps the whole universe moving and live is the Noor of Rasoolullah (blessings and peace be upon him).” He mentioned from Quran and Hadees that whatever has been created in this universe including humans, has been created from the spiritual light or Noor-e-Mustafa (blessings and peace be upon him). He emphasised that since Prophet’s Noor is the spiritual part of the universe, that means the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) is always present there in this universe. He said that one of the proofs that Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) and his Noor is the spirit of this whole universe, is that, “on the night of Meraj when Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) went to meet Allah and as he crossed the border of this universe, everything went still, because when soul or spirit leaves the body, regardless of the shape of the body, the body goes still.” He said that “everything that exists in this universe is either Noor-e-Mustafa (blessings and peace be upon him) or sadqa of Mustafa (blessings and peace be upon him).” He said that Rasoolullah (blessings and peace be upon him) is the only reason for the creation of the whole universe including us, therefore, there should be no limit in loving the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him).

Sahibzada Hussain Mohi-ud-din Qadri emphasised on the point that “we can not understand fully the true reality of Rasoolullah (blessings and peace be upon him) but we should try to understand as much as possible so that we can increase our love and respect for the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) in our hearts.” He told the audience that Minhaj-ul-Quran International and its founder Shaykhul Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri are spreading the same message of love since last 35 years. He said that “anyone who loves the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) is always welcome to join this organisation because it is the organisation of lovers of Rasoolullah (blessings and peace be upon him).” He mentioned that the message of Minhaj-ul-Quran International comprises of three words: Love, Peace and Knowledge, that it has taken as its goal and mission to spread them all over the world.

Sahibzada Hussain Qadri also announced the educational visit of His Eminence Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri to Australia in June 2010 when he will be delivering several lectures including main talk at the Town Hall, Sydney. He invited the audience to attend those lectures and asked them to be prepared to welcome one of the most influential ambassadors of peace and Islam in the world today.

He finally, concluded his speech by congratulating the management of Minhaj-ul-Quran Australia “to hold such a beautiful gathering on the occasion of Mawlid-un-Nabi (SAW)” and prayed that “may this celebration be accepted in the court of the Prophet (SAW).” He traveled from Melbourne and arrived in Sydney the day before the conference. Minhaj-ul-Quran Australia’s executive committee members received him at the Sydney Airport.

Sahibzada Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri is the son of the foremost authority of Islam, Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhmmad Tahir-ul-Qadri – founder and patron-in-chief of the Minhaj-ul-Quran International, the world’s largest non-governmental organisation. Before his address, Ruhel Dalvi, member executive committee and Finance Secretary introduced him and Dr. Shams-ul-Arifeen, Vice President of MQI Australia presented an exclusive introduction to Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri and the Minhaj-ul-Quran International and their achievements and services for the education, peace and betterment of humanity. He also introduced few books written by Shaykh-ul-Islam to the audience including Irfan-ul-Quran (the most comprehensive and modern translation of Quran) and Minhaj-us-Sawi (the book of Ahadees), which were also available for sale on the book stall set up on the occasion.

Among other prominent guests were included Haji Aziz Akbar, President of Australia Forum and Haji Abdul Hakeem, President Muslim Society of Western Sydney, who were received by Haji Mohammed Janiff, the President of Minhaj-ul-Quran Australia. The conference started with Tilawat-e-Quran by Haji Nouhad who recited Sura Wadduha. There were a lot of Naats and Duroods presented on the Holy Prophet (SAW) during the conference by several local Naat reciters including Tazeem Ali Qadri, Ahmaddin Shahzad Muhaddidi, and Riaz Shah. Two sisters Sara and Taiba recited “Tala ul badro alaina” on Duff, which completely transformed the environment and people started reciting it as well along with both the sisters.

The people who came from different parts of Australia including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and others to attend the conference, expressed their happiness and delight to be part of this celebration event. Most of them had already attended last years Milad conference but there were many others who attended Minhaj-ul-Quran’s Milad Conference for the first time and were very happy and astonished too by the “mind blowing” speech of Sahibzada Hussain Mohi-ud-din Qadri, as one of the participant described it. Also like last year, many people who understand and love the message of Minhaj-ul-Qur’an International and respect Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhmmad Tahir-ul-Qadri and his services but have never met him in person, were very excited to see his son Sahibzada Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri in Sydney and prayed for him as well as for Dr. Qadri.

After the final Salat-o-Salam and Du’a by the chief guest at the conclusion of the conference, when he was leaving the Bowman Hall for Sydney Airport, one lady approached Sahibzada Sahib and expressed her gratitude for an enlightening speech by him and showed him some Tabarrukat from the tomb of Hazrat Bayzeed Bustami (r.t.a.), which he took in his hands for barakat and thanked the lady for allowing him to see them. The program concluded with the grand refreshment service arranged by Minhaj-ul-Quran Australia. Sahibzada Hussain Qadri was farewelled by the Executive Committee members of Minhaj-ul-Quran Australia.

Reported by: Muhammad Asif Khawaja (General Secretary, MQI, Australia)