Irfan-ul-Quran Courses occupy central importance for reconnecting people to the Holy Quran, creation of awareness among the female students and preparation of instructors for the conduction of Irfan-ul-Quran courses. Minhaj-ul-Quran Women League (MWL) arranged a 7-day Irfan-ul-Quran Course at Minhaj Girls College (Township, Lahore), which started from July 14 and concluded on July 21, 2011. The objectives of the Course, in addition to imparting moral and spiritual training to the women, included:

• To reconnect the womenfolk to the Holy Quran
• To prepare female instructors for the field
• To promote and expand Irfan-ul-Quran Courses and Irfan-ul-Quran and Durood-o-Salam assemblies

The Course was organized under the leadership of Ms Sumaira Rafaqat, Secretary General of MWL, Sidra Karmat Ali and Naila Jafar, while the organizers of the event were Sajida Sadiq, Khudija Fatima, Noshaba Zia, Afnan Baber and Nabeela Yousuf. Around 147 students from 31 cities including Lahore, Karachi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Mian Channun, Sargodha, Sialkot, Muzzarfar Garh, Sangla Hill, Multan, Okara, Jehlum, Chishtian, Khoshab, Gujrat, Khanewal, Wazirabad, Shor Kot, Gojar Khan etc, participated in the course.

The instructors who delivered their lectures included Faiz-ur-Rehman Durrani, Ameer e Tehreek MQI, Sheikh Zahid Fayyaz, acting Secretary General of MQI, Brig. (r ) Obaidullah Ranjha, Prof Muhammad Nawaz Zafar, Dr Tahir Hamid Tanoli, Farhat Hussain Shah, Syed Musharraf Shah, Allama Ghulam Murtaza Malik, Muhammad Afzal Qadri, Muhammad Farooq Rana, Ghulam Rabbani Tamoor, Sharif Kamalvi, Fayyaz Bashir and Bashir Khan Lodhi, Afzal Kanju, Ghulam Ahmad, Mufti Khalil, Ms Sumaira Rafaqat, Sajida Sadiq, Khudija Fatima, Sidra Karmat, Afnan Baber, Noshaba Zia, and Nuraid Fatima.

Sharif Kamalvi and Ghulam Tamoor Rabbani rendered their services to impart lessons on Tajveed, translation, interpretation and the art of public speaking. The lectures were delivered on the following topics:

• Introduction to the Holy Quran (Distinctions & Rights of the Quran)
• How Irfan-ul-Quran is distinct from other Quranic translations?
• The Holy Quran & the Concept of Awareness
• Introduction to Hadith/Need & Importance of Hadith
• Practical and Spiritual Aspects of Sira-tur-Rasool (SAW)
• Excellence of Religious Scholars and Knowledge
• Services of Shaykh-ul-Islam in the field of Sira & Hadith
• Meaning & Concept of Fiqh, its Terminology, Need and Importance
• Issues related to Cleanliness, Commandments about prayer, Nikah, Divorce and veil
• What is creed? Need & Importance of Creed
• Aqeeda-e-Tawheed & Risaalat (Faith in Monotheism & Prophet hood)
• Aqeeda-e-Tawassal & Shifaat
• Services of Shaykh-ul-Islam in the field of Aaqaid
• What is MQI? Its aim’s and objectives?
• Introduction of the personality of Shaykh-ul-Islam
• How is Shaykh-ul-Islam revivalist of his times?
• Services of MQI in the promotion of knowledge
• Establishment of Durood Sessions, its need and importance
• Need and Importance of establishment of Irfan-ul-Quran Sessions and its objectives
• Briefing about Irfan-ul-Quran Courses
• The Holy Quran is a complete package of life
• Volunteerism
• Can we bring change in our lives?

The students were fully apprised of the methods to organize Irfan-ul-Quran Courses and Irfan-ul-Quran Sessions, work out their syllabi, fix their duration, prepare instructions and send complete feasibility to the Central Secretariat. They were assigned targets to conduct Irfan-ul-Quran Courses in their respective areas. They were also given complete briefing about Courses on “Come, Let us Learn Religion” and necessary literature was also provided. They were also fully briefed about the need and importance of the establishment of Durood Forums through practical example. The students listened to the speeches of Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri in addition to the documentaries on the life and work of Shaykh-ul-Islam both in Pakistan and abroad.

Schedule

Training schedule was mapped out for the moral and spiritual training of the students, which included punctuality of prayers five times a day and other spiritual gatherings etc. The students sent Durood-o-Salam on the Holy Prophet (SAW) with great religious fervor during the six days of their stay. Examination was conducted and those who demonstrated good performance were awarded with prizes and certificates. The Irfan-ul-Quran ended with concluding remarks by Ms Sumaira Rafaqat.