There are currently two different streams of education in our country including Madrasa Education and college/university education and this has created a polarized society. We, at the University of Okara, are struggling to create a harmony between these two streams, said by the UO Vice Chancellor, Prof Dr Muhammad Zakria Zakar, while addressing to a seminar, organized by the UO Seerat Chair, Dr Zaid Lakhvi.
The seminar titled as “Solution of Rising Violence in Society in Light of the Teachings of the Prophet (PBUH)” was attended by the leading religious scholars of the region and a large number of faculty members and students.
The VC further said, “It is need of the hour to inculcate pluralistic behaviors in the society and while we are just laying the foundations of this university, we want to take on board all the major stakeholders including civil society, local community and clergy for policy making.”
Among other speakers, Sahibzada Fazal-ur-Rehman Okarvi stressed on the need of adopting the characteristic of compassion to overcome violent behaviors. Moulana Ishfaq Habib argued that the solution to sectarian, religious and political violence was the initiation of the culture of logical dialogue. Sheikh Abu Nouman Bashir said that the best way to mitigate violence was to adopt tolerance. Allam Syed Ghulam Shabbir advised to focus on the teachings of Holy Quran in true spirits to overcome violence.
Dr Abdul Ghaffar, In-Charge Department of Islamic Studies, told, “We are working to induct the madrasa alumni into university education.” Dr Zaim-u-Din Abid Lakhvi, UO’s Member Syndicate, stressed on resorting to meditation and logical thinking in order to clear society of violence and extremism.
At the end of the seminar, the VC advised the Seerat Chair and the Department of Islamic Studies to initiate of serious of dialogues between the religious leaders and academia.
