MQI UK with members from all over the United Kingdom, and representation from all its forums and central projects gathered on Saturday 17th February to celebrate the 67th birthday of their beloved Quaid, Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri. The previous national event celebrating Quaid Day was held in 2016 and there was immense excitement and joy that the UK based Minhaj Family were coming together to mark this annual celebration.

The additional reason for the excitement was that Dr Hassan Mohi-ud-Din Qadri (Chairman, Supreme Council of Minhaj-ul-Quran International) was honouring us with their presence and had spared his valuable time from the European tour on a special request.

The MQI UK event was held in Bradford for the convenience of people travelling from across the UK and organised with the support of the local MQI branch and team of Madinat Al-Zahra one of MQI UK’s core projects.

The venue was bursting at the seams as the overbooked banqueting hall was filled with over 550 attendees, 60% of whom were ladies and their children as the event attracted full families to share the joy and happiness of the Quaid Day. On arrival all attendees were served a 4-course meal prior to the programme proceedings commencing.

The celebration commenced with the recitation of the Holy Quran by Hafiz Ahmed Shah Noor Qureshi from Luton, and praise of the Holy Prophet (SAW) by Bilal Shoaib from London. The opening of the event was followed by a quiz which consisted of quick-fire questions about Shaykh-ul-Islam. The quiz was sponsored by Minhaj Dawah Project (MDP) and hosted jointly by Minhaj Women League’s sister Naheed Anwar Malik and Minhaj Sisters’ sister Humaira Ali. Questions were alternated between the brothers’ and sisters’ sides and those who answered correctly were presented gifts by MDP.

Minhaj Al-Munshidin attended the event from London and sang praises of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and sang anthems with relevance to Qaid Day

After the performance, a few informative updates were given to the audience in relation to Minhaj College Manchester, Al-Minhaj Institute and Minhaj Publications which highlighted the publications Divine Oneness and Muhammadan Blessings. This followed by an auction of 4 exclusive copies of Muhammadan Blessings: Special Edition was signed by Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir ul Qadri and the money raised from the auction was donated to Minhaj Publications to produce further works for our future generations.

An awards ceremony then took place and the following awards were presented by Dr Hassan Mohi-ul-Din Qadri:

• Minhaj-ul-Quran International (MQI) - LUTON, for excellent operational performance and being the most improved chapter of MQI UK.
• Minhaj Womens' League (MWL) UK - for excellent operational performance in all areas of the UK and contributions to MQI UK.
• Rania Hussain Qadri - Minhaj Sisters Deputy Coordinator, Midlands; for excellent operational performance in the respective forum of MQI UK.
• Sufyan Khalid - MYL President, Scotland; for excellent operational performance in the respective forum of MQI UK.

The wait for Dr Hassan Mohi-ul-Din Qadri’s (Chairman, Supreme Council of Minhaj-ul-Quran International) talk was then over; and he delivered his anticipated talk in a beautiful manner. He spoke of the blessings we have as the Ummah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and how the mercies and blessings from our Beloved Prophet ﷺ are echoed into Awliya Allah and righteous Shayukh and furthermore how the charisma and characteristics of Shaykh-ul-Islam are living evidence of this. Dr Hassan also spoke of many occasions when eminent scholars and authorities of the Muslim world have spoken highly of Shaykh-ul-Islam and been in awe of his status.

Following the talk, a cake cutting ceremony took place with separate cakes on the brothers and sisters sides, and dua was made for Shaykh-ul-Islam’s long life.

The final segment of the evening then took place which was Qawalli by the Khan Brothers led by Ustad Haji Ameer Khan.