Al Huda — an insider’s view

Superb article – its time pakistanis got their heads out of the sand and actually started reasoning and finding ways of developing the future generations rather than finding ways of replacing allah swt with the mullahRecommend

Arrogance is one of the trait most disliked in Islam.Recommend

Thank you. It is one of the most honest and fair piece I have read in a long time. You brought out clearly the difference between the agenda-driven “leaders” and the simple piety-impelled followers. I hope you will write on other issue too similarly. Jiitii raho, khush raho.Recommend

A wonderful down to earth article without any high theory behind it. In my personal opinion, Hashmi sisters are not exception and much of the religious orthodoxy is replete people (leaders) with huge gaps in what they say and what they do. This is understandable that they must not be trying to follow the path of those Muslims who created philosophy, experimented with mathematics, and tried to use physics and biology to create ease in human life. They do not follow the path of scholars like Ibne Arabi or Al-Ghizali, Dr. Iqbal or Dr. Ali Shariati. They follow the priest-like paths which asks people pay them money and they enjoy the arrogance and all worldly vices (with pleasure). sometimes I feel that like ardent atheists (who deny existence of God), people living with extreme religious persona are also convinced about the futility of the concepts of heaven and hell. They know that ‘sab tawaham ka karkhana hae – yaan wo hae jo aitabar kia’.Recommend

Nice reply to Khaled Ahmed’s article.I agree with parvaz and zubair abbasi thoughts.
I dont understand why our islamic madrasa’s and places like Al Huda are not teaching science and mathematics in the context of Quran and Sunnah.Recommend

So what is your difference with Khalid Ahmad…that Hashmi sisters are not as good as some people believe…but not as bad as Khalid Ahmad thinks…!Recommend

“We need to be suspicious of anyone who wishes to “own” Islam and whose practice of it tolerates no other views.” I think that pretty much sums it up! Well done!Recommend

Now this is what is called showing a picture’s both sides. Very well written.Recommend

Excellent Habiba Younis, you have pulverised the pious citadel of Al-Huda with your simple, honest and fair piece. BravoRecommend

Grrrreaaaat. Well thought out and carefully drafted and very well researched. Try to become a professional columnist. We need people like you. Good-show, keep it up.Recommend

FAB article Habiba. This is a very strong piece of information as it provides a deep insight of what actually is being taught at one of the most popular ‘madrassas’ of present times.esp. for those who believe in each and every bit coming in papers these days.
No doubt,audacity to preserve actual Islamic rights and rituals is the ultimate strength of a Muslim to put extremists down.
Its awesome.Please keep wriring in future.Recommend

i must say a very well written piece of work….. and an eye opener for a lot of people who does not know what is actually happening behind the scene…. i would definitely like to read more from Habiba Younis and her opinion about other scenarios ..Recommend

Is this what a Muslim ummah requires right now? is it even needed when we are living in the utmost defeat?

The traditional Mullahs , the middle class and the majority all are liable to be ‘enlightened’ once again to understand that right now we need to get out of these idiotic notion of whose right or wrong. We do not have an identity nor do we have an Islamic state. A pseudo shady democratic system enforced upon us with the false consciousness of it being elected by the majority.

Think for a moment why are we facing internal wars. Brandishing others and calling someone a lesser Muslim is indeed the worst sin and no one has the right to do so.
Barelvi,Deobandi,Farhat Hashmi etc – Stop spreading fitnah and fasad amongst the people. I believe people will have a better understanding of Islam if you guys stop misinterpreting Islam and Qura’n for them.Recommend

Not a very impressive article.

1) It says that the Hashmi Sisters, “are proud and get easily offended if they are not treated like VIP celebrities” – No evidence is provided for that, not even an instance is share based on author’s “experience” with them.

2)The article criticizes Al-Huda for the fact that, “Students are told that the world is bad and Muslims are the best and that the former needs to reform itself”, The author probably does realize that our traditionalist paradigm in Islam, though very strict about self-improvement and humility, rests on this hypothesis. The Muslims are “muslims”, as mentioned in Quran. The rest of the world is “Kuffaar”, as mentioned in Quran. And then there is a whole philosphy of Jihad built on it. Al-huda alone is not to be blamed for it, they are propagating the same paradigm that they inherited. So this whole paradigm must be challenged, academically, not Al-huda alone.Recommend

Having said that, contrary to what that Khaled Ahmed’s article hints at, they are not breeding terrorists. But neither are they planting reasoning or thinking seeds in their student’s minds. Al Huda believes in conspiracy theories and students are led to believe that Muslims are perfect and this in turn means that they are not taught on how self-assessment as a Muslim is important. Students are told that the world is bad and Muslims are the best and that the former needs to reform itself. In my view, this makes for an individual who is not very humble and misses out on the humility inherent in Islam.

While this article is a somewhat better attempt than Mr. Khaled Ahmed’s article, it is still not an entirely neutral article. I took short courses at Al-huda, none taught by Ms. Hashmi but one of her students, in english. We were not made to feel on top of the world, as Habiba states. Yes, we were taught that the Islamic ideology is supreme. Fair enough, this would be the essence of any religious missionary’s teachings-that the religion he preaches is the best. What we were taught was that the muslim of today is less than perfect and WE need to reform ourselves. Humility was the basis for mostly all our lessons. We were not taught conspiracy theories. In fact, Al-huda has kept quiet on most current issues, which was my only problem with it.
Also, the author has provided no concrete proof to support her statement ‘but the truth is that they are proud and get easily offended if they are not treated like VIP celebrities. They are arrogant and cruel to servants and lower-grade employees.’ If she did, it would serve only to substantiate her claims and refute those of the students on the other article commenting otherwise. Only then will it lend her article much credibility.Recommend

well kashmir has its own al huda on d name of dukhtaran e milat lead by asiya andrabi who alwaya gives rhetorical statementsRecommend

Brilliant piece of work :)Recommend

A balancing act…! Comparatively a better attempt than previous articles on the subject.Recommend

good article habiba, but i wanna know is this any organization or a islamic teaching center or what?Recommend

Dear Habiba, i apreciate your comment on Khaled Ahmed’s article and really am pleased to see you sharing your perceptions about the institute, also that you cleared your way to the point that the women going to Al-Huda are not terrorists. But what i think Mr. Ahmed was saying was not really prejudiced as you think it was. It was rather critical, i may say. The social isolation he was talking about was not meant to be the one in which you just lock yourself in your house, it was more to be meant as rejecting the social norms by calling them “unislamic” and restraining yourself to do it. The isolation is an act that makes you feel outraged, but you are bound to do it as religion contradicts it. Anyway, Mr. Ahmed was simply quoting the book he thinks is a pretty good critical analysis of such religious institutions.
Although there are a large number of women attending this institution, in particular, belonging to an elite or priviledged class, some many of them are fearing the concepts of Ms. Hashmi’s beliefs to be radically off the record or politically untrue, as Mr. Ahmed said. This is alarming as it provokes radical thoughts towards what needs to be corrected politically. If we put it this way, it seems pretty okay to use the word terrorists or rebels for people promoting radical views and justifying them using religion. Either way, the society is going towards a down-track and we need to make it stable and sustain it. For that, people like Mr. Ahmed and Ms. Sadaf among others are working to achieve the goal of a better, tolerant Pakistan. Also, we should read the book first with an open mind. That would do the trick, i’m sure! Thanks for your comment, though.Recommend

habiba younis,im proud of you girl :)
i think young teens should definitely stand up towards whats right and have the courage to accept reality and spread truth as far as possible. this is an outstanding article and in all my years of living in pakistan, i have never seen anyone write so boldly about the truth behind such audacities. well done habiba ;) May God bless you.Recommend

a very good critical analysis… welldone habiba and take each cmment on your article positively…..
well it shows the mentality of the mam’s runing itRecommend

AoA…if u can’t do any good….then dont stop others doing something gud…!!Recommend

Yes i think we definitely should think twice before donating money to ANY so called Islamic organization…As the writer pointed out they all believe in inherent supremacy of Muslims in general and their particular brand of Islam in particular…..Many of them have so called Palestine and Iraq funds and God knows where that money goes…..None of these scieties could be termed tolerant in today’s world .Though they might not be actively violent they teach such values that embrace violence.A very well known religious scholar, whose Eid prayer i Myself attended ,openly cursed America and the other western nations,and prayed for their destruction.The less said about their human Rights track record ,the better .They never protest against domestic violence, gang rapes, they are even silent about the vicious killing of brothers in sialkot.And yet if its a question of banning facebook they are all out in streets burning up cars and destroying the city’ peace.. All this sounds harsh but that is reality….I think its way better to donate money to hospitals or other human Rights organizationsRecommend

A very well written piece, I must say! The only point where I happen to disagree is that Al-Huda should at least be credited for imparting parts of religious knowledge which are unbiased like ‘tajweed’, ‘hadith’, ‘tafseer’ or ‘hifz’ for that matter. I think in the present day, the art of acquiring religious knowledge lies in the concept of rationality. A rational Muslim is one who acquires Islamic knowledge in a way where he can skim through the relevant Islamic knowledge leaving behind any prejudiced and bigoted teachings, and thus forming his own individual opinion. I am sure Habiba would give due credit to Al-Huda for helping her become a hafiz-Quran, yet she was able to maintain her rationality to question the institution.Recommend

Its time we took Islam from the clutches of these Mullahs and their unquestioning followers. Here in the UK The Association of British Muslims is working with different groups to encourage reasoning and thinking skills among Muslims but what we find sadly the ‘only’ mullahs who seem to be against this are from South Asia – we need to put our house in order as not only are we an embarrassment to the world but other muslimsRecommend

To be honest I dont even know who and what Al-Huda academy is … what i do know is we have changed Islam to our needs .. We adpot what fits our needs or suits us or is ok within our culture. I am happy for you for becoming Hafiz -e-Quran, masha Allah the best thing anyone can do, but we need a major overhaul of our nation to understand what Islam really teaches us ..Recommend

I hope those praising the article actually know the writer is saying the truth. It has become very fashionable to take a swipe at religious groups and putting them more or less in the same category.
I have listened to their cassettes and I have not noticed the issues the writer has mentioned. I have been a student of psychology and have seen how rational arguments are presented to convince the user rather than instructing him to beleive based on blind faith.
Perhaps some of the applauders need to get their hands and ears on the cassettes and then share their opininon. Decide for yourself.Recommend

There is a huge difference between just the alhuda “cassettes” and what actually alhuda is. I did the Taleem ul Koran course from alhuda. later on I served in the administration of an alhuda branch run by the sister of Dr Farhat Hashmi. Due to the nature of my job I was in close contact with her and have seen her dealing with servants many times. The cleaning staff was not happy with her as she used to cut large amounts of their wages on slightest mistakes and used to rebuke them in a very inappropriate manner. She didn’t use to give holidays to her maids on Eid just because she needed them to manage the family Eid dinners and guests. Even I myself as her employ wasn’t comfortable with her. Just because they say in their lectures to be good to servants doesn’t mean thats what they themselves do. By attending a few of their dars and hearing their audio cds one cannot form an authentic opinion about their behavior.Recommend

@Naveen, you may be right about your personal experience.
I havent had the fortune/misfortune to interact with them on a personal basis. Neither will i try to.
I am judging them on the basis of the lectures that i have heard and have always found them to be close to nature, appealing to one’s heart and convincing one’s mind. From my vantage point, they are perhaps more appealing to me than other preachers.
If there is any other tangible/public/objective evidence rather than very personal experiences, only that should be quoted. Otherwise it would be very easy to malign any public figure without any evidence.
@Abbasi, who are these “mullahs” that you are referring to. Are you really sure that Al huda is really part of these category of mullahs ? Are you aware that these are well educated ladies targeting the educated section of females in pakistan via new ways of teaching and convincing with logic rather than blind faith. If this is what the typical mullahs are about, then we need more of these.Recommend

What the writer has written is not different what everyone else is currently doing against Muslims. There was a docotor in one the renowned university of Americe. He comitted a murder now nobody has blamed his university or teachers being responsible for his actions. They called it individual action. Because some doctors from same university are the top 5 docotors of USA. Now same way one Muslim does a wrong deed and Islam is being blamed every where.
We Muslims as a nation need to grow up. If there are few people whom we experienced negative we cannot say all Muslims are like it. SO whether its AlHuda or any Islamic School if i had a bad experience with someone it does not mean all students, teachers and school should be blamed. In Pschological terms such person who acts this way is called “OCD” and narorw minded. A normal person is always logical looks for logic and does not generalise things.
If we all as a Muslims practice on one hadith of Nabi s.a.w. we all will be the best nation ” A Muslim is the one who wants the same for his brother what he wants for himself.”
We should also remember whatever we are writing here is always copied on our book of Deeds by angels and on the day of judgement. We will be answerable for whatever we wrote.Recommend

Last Year my wife came from Pakistan with an audio tape of Miss Farhat Hashmi. She was very impressed with the lectures. I only had a chance to listen to it on our way to Makkah. My first impression was that narrating lady was severly ill informed about most of the facts that she talked about throughout the tape. Secodly she was not too sure of the things that she was narrating as it was evident that she was reading it from somewhere. Third and last thing that I didn’t like was a lady talking about Islamic teachings and then recording and distributing her voice.

My personal opinion is that if there are more of those Hashmi sisters, they should all sit at home taking care of there husbands and children or do anything else, because what they are doing is not bringing any good to the society or Ummah with their lectures. They are rather harming the easy to attack innocent brains of our people with the DIS-Information and hypocracy.Recommend

We have lost the practicality of Islam in our culture and Nation, all we have now is just TALKS about how good it is and what it teaches us, but no one to show what it truly is. I am probably no one to question to who and what they are, if they are trying to do what some of the readers have said, but Not what NAVEEN had mentioned (Islam is not just the name of Ibadaat, it also encompass Muasharat, Ikhlaqiat and Muamalat), its not going to help THEM, as no matter how many people they teach QURAN and HADITH, it would be so pathetic and sad to see not having in their own lives … its like telling someone how good of a taste something has, but not able or willing to taste it urself …Recommend

g8 article habiba …..keep it upRecommend

An article which only shows the mentality of our people. Allegations and accusations without any evidence and proofs to get famous. Same thing happened in Sialkot last month. First someone, because of his personal animosity, accused two innocent boys of robbery and then rest of the town jumped into the brawl and brutally killed those two kids. Now that everybody knows the truth, there are protests across the country asking authorities to bring the criminals to justice. The boys are already dead and now we cannot go back in time to fix anything.

Please people, instead of asking Shaikh Google or Allama dot com what Allah commands us to do, do some real research and learn Quran from people who have authentic knowledge like dr. Farhat Hashmi, before it is too late.

Our country is in serious crisis. Bad economy, trade deficit, so many hungry people to feed, broken infrastructure. It is all because we never do anything positive. Just spreading rumors against people of true knowledge is not going to help us build our nation.Recommend

I appreciate what Habiba is saying about Al Huda sisters but I would like to emphasise the following points:

1 No one, and absolutely no one is perfect. Since we will be answerable to Allah for our own actions and deeds and not others, it is up to us to take what good we can from others and disregard others weaknesses or politely point them out to them. Did Habiba ever make an effort to point out to Al Huda sisters that they could be more polite and gentle with the junior support staff? As muslims we are obligated to remind each other of the correct and wrong things. Wheter the advice is followed or not is upto the recipient’s discretion but conveying the message is necessary (After all the Prophets were also told by Allah that their job was only to convey the message and not compel others to follow).

2 Allah says that Islam is the perfect religion (its not something that Al Hudda sisters have coined up). How accurately muslims follow it or not is another matter. Islam means submission to Allah and as muslims our belief is that all prophets starting from Hazrat Ibrahim (AI), Hazrat Musa (AI) Hazrat Isaa (AI) and others were all muslims since they had completely submitted to Allah and since they were furthering Allah’s word. Therefore, Al Huda sisters are very correct in saying that Islam is perfect. Nevertheless, the challenge for muslims/believers is to stay humble while knowing this and to do dawa in the best of the manners so that non-belivers or those that have strayed into believing that different prophets came with different religions are inspired by muslims to come to Islam, rather than for muslims to belittle Islam or to undermine its position vis-a-vis other world religions, just to be politically right and appealing to others.

If anything in the above passages is not clear, I will be happy to address it through email.Recommend

Arrogance is a trait shared by some of their other head preachers too. And while I agree that there is nothing wrong with learning about the Quran, it becomes a problem when the imparted learning is skewed and focused around a very narrow and somewhat narrow minded interpretation of religion. Plus, these women pass on their views to their children as well. A potential group of Faisal Shehzads in the making? Who knows…Recommend

one of the balanced piece read after a long time.though i have not been a part of this organization, but i still remember my cousin got psychologically disturbed when 1 of the sister (won’t mention name here) refused to listen her part on some issue she was blamed in and believed on the other one, when she literally requested for whole 3 months.what i feel if we call ourselves muslims, we should try to follow the essence of what real islam says us (Haqooq-ul-Ibaad with Haqooq-Allah)
great one habiba.keep it up…Recommend

@ Zain…Completely agree wid you…

@ Habiba
Congratez…atlast you got da opportunity to get it published after constant effort… :-)

hmmm…being a student of alhuda (Lahore Branch) I wud like to share my point of view too…I studied there for almost 2 years..& my experience is totally different frm you…i never witnessed any incident of arrogance as you said…or any rude behaviour of my teachers all these years…infact we had an old-aged christian maid there…whom we used to call “amma ji”…& she was treated wid great respect by everyone…i still remember tht my teacher had great affection for her…which she used to express almost everyday while taking a glass of water frm her hands..to set an example for us tht how to treat elderly ppl & tht too whn they are even non-muslims…& same was da conduct of every faculty member while interacting wid other ppl etc…so i dnt agree wid you atall tht they mistreat their low-grade employees or are arrogant & want to be treated like celebs…as i always found them very down to earth (without any exaggeration)…plus in my batch, we had students frm upper,middle & even lower-middle class…obviously there’s no restriction of any kind for admission…ppl belong to any social class are all welcomed…yes many well-educated ladies frm different walks of life hv entered in alhuda’s circle…& da reason to give dem a warm welcome is NOT their “money” (which some ppl think tht alhuda wants frm dem)..but actually it is their “good social & educational background”…due to which they cud convey da message of Islam in a more convincing way as they are equipped wid latest knowledge…& cud be heard more effectively by da ppl as compared to any average person…& i dnt feel any defect in this strategy…at da end of the day wot all is needed, to provide ppl wid proper understanding of Quran & Hadees…tht’s wot everyone of dem is doin…so i think it’s very impolite to point fingers on dem who atleast are taking their part in spreading Islam…plus are serving da humanity…& YES…they DID alot for da earthquake victims…& now again are donating & working hard to help out da flood affectees…so kindly DO NOT pass any such judgement like..”think before donating to alhuda or any islamic institute” if you don’t hv any evidence to prove your claim…bcuz these allegations are considered as “Bohtaan” or “Tohmat” in islam…& you knw very well da severity of this act…
other than this, i really appreciate tht atleast you cleared up da mess & various allegations on Al-Huda like (promoting terrorism & breeding hatred) by Mr. Khaled…his article was totally Crap…baseless & biased…alhuda doesnt advocate any hate speech & doesnt promote any particular sect…wot all they do is jus to give you da opinions frm every school of thought..& it’s totally up to da students to choose or adopt woteva opinion they feel more comfortable wid…as all these school of thoughts are “Equally” respectable for muslims…Recommend

How about we all stop talking about things that have no benefit at the end of the day and make an effort to understand the Quran ourselves since we all are muslims and it is OUR holy Book. We, Pakistanis, love to criticize others as it is fun and the easiest thing to do but we do not want to waste our time reading and understanding our Holy Book in an unbiased way because there is no fun in it. Think about it !!Recommend