The University of Okara’s Department of Islamic Studies organized a seminar on Islamophobia where the speakers discussed the rising tendency of anti-Islam sentiments in the western world and provided solutions to spread the message of humanity and love for all.
The seminar was presided by the UO Vice Chancellor, Prof Dr Muhammad Zakria Zakar, who argued that Islam is a religion of tolerance and humanitarianism and the Muslims across the world should work to present the real soft face of the religion through their characters and actions.
The In-Charge, Department of Islamic Studies, Dr Abdul Ghaffar, traced the history of Islamophobia and said that this phenomenon had been overtly or covertly been into the western societies since 1990s.
Dr Alam Khan from the Gumsani University Turkey told that Islamophobia triggered certain events of heinous violence and genocide against the Muslims living in the western countries.
Dr Hammad Lakhvi from University of the Punjab was of the view that the term of Islamophobia came into limelight after the 9/11.
Dr Zaid Lakhvi from the UO told that Islamophobia was spreading widely in the western societies which were continuously trying to defame and defile Islam and the Muslims.
Dr Zahid Bilal, In-Charge Department of Communication Studies at the UO, discussed the role of media in countering Islamophobia.
Dr Hamid Mukhtar, In-Charge School of Law at the UO, said that we could counter Islamophobia by the following the instructions of the Holy Quran.
Some other scholars including Rana Shafiq Khan Pasrori, Hafiz Habib Ullah, Dr Masfara Mahfooz and Dr Mazhar Farid Shah also presented their thoughts on the subject.