CHAIRMAN’S BIOGRAPHY

BROTHER MOHAMMAD SHAIKH is a public speaker on Islam and comparative religion and the founding chairman of the International Islamic Propagation Center in Karachi, Pakistan. His lectures based on Qur’anic textual inflection serve to remove numerous misconceptions, present authentic Islamic beliefs and appeal for a rational and objective analysis of the Qur’an instead of a traditionally biased one. In addition to conducting Da’wah and public lectures, he is also the founder of IIPC TV, an internet-protocol television channel, which broadcasts Islamic programs to a global audience via the web. Since obtaining early retirement from the Merchant Navy, he has devoted himself full time to the service of Islam, inviting all to understand the religion directly from the text of the Qur’an instead of any other source.Without taking political or sectarian sides, he calls people to understand and analyze what the Qur’an has to say about a subject first and foremost, as it is the Qur’an which is Islam’s principal authoritative text and Allah’s word and revelation to humankind. Given this status, in religious matters no other book is equal or above the Qur’an in anyway whatsoever. Therefore, when there are disputes and confusions, people need to rationally and objectively turn to the Qur’an, to observe what it states instead of taking sides with opinions to the contrary. This Qur’an-Is-Above-All approach often brings him at odds with traditional and conservative scholarship that is accustomed to subjecting the book to the prism of numerous other texts instead of its own pristine form. Nevertheless Brother Shaikh’s lectures are of value to those who wish to understand Islam directly from the Qur’an without recourse to doctrinal bias.

EARLY LIFE

Mohammed Shaikh was born in Karachi, Pakistan on the 6th of October, 1952 to Ghulam Nizamudin and Tameez Jehan Begum. His father hailed from a prominent Muslim family of Delhi and was a graduate of Aligarh University. Brother Shaikh’s grandfather, Ghulam Fareed-uddin was the Chief of Police and honorary Captain in the Indian state of Delhi in pre-partition India and an avid supporter of Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and the Pakistan movement. Brother Shaikh’s early childhood and education was at Karachi, where he attended Islamia College. He received basic Islamic education under the watchful eye of his father. His teachers also included the (Late) Maulana Hafiz Qari Abdul Haq from whom he learned to read the Qur’an as a child at Alfalah Masjid situated at PECHS, Karachi. In the same mosque he performed Aitakaaf from the age of sixteen till forty two. Following the family tradition of pursuing an occupation in the uniformed services, Brother Mohammad Shaikh was commissioned as a National Services Inductee in the Military Police and participated in the Indo-Pak war of 1971. Later on he decided to seek a civilian role and joined the Merchant Navy where he reached the rank of second officer. The Merchant Navy enabled him to sail to distant lands and experience diverse cultures and beliefs. His younger brother Mohammad Abid also served in the Pakistan Army and retired as a Captain in the thirteenth Punjab infantry. His religious inclination received more potency, when he was stationed as an officer on the Shams passenger liner which carried Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, and through this role he had the opportunity to perform the Hajj himself.

TURNING POINT IN LIFE

An event that had a profound effect on Mohammad Shaikh occurred on 15th December, 1986, when some armed criminals broke into his office in Karachi. Soon a struggle ensued and one of the men pulled the trigger, but miraculously Brother Shaikh was not hit. It was at this point in time, he recalls, that he closed his eyes and prayed to Allah deep in his heart, that if his life were spared, he would dedicate it to His cause – it was as if his prayer was heard, that the armed men all of a sudden broke loose and fled, leaving him physically and psychologically drained at the ordeal. After this near death experience he would decide to study and teach the Qur’an fearlessly and take a firm stand on what was stated within its pages irrespective of the status quo opinions. This near death experience, the spiritual experiences gained during the Hajj and dialogues with Christian missionaries while on sea voyages would motivate him to defend his faith and learn the Qur’an in more detail so as to answer allegations. All of this would eventually pave the way for an organized mission to promote the Qur’an.

INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC PROPAGATION CENTER (IIPC)

To further the Quranic message, Mohammad Shaikh soon decided to leave the Merchant Navy and enter the field of Da’wah on a full time basis. Thus the International Islamic Propagation Center (IIPC) came into being at Karachi in 1987. Initial activities at the IIPC consisted of discussions and discourses on the Qur’an on a one to one basis with the educated elite of the city and distribution of videos of famous scholars of comparative religion. The people of Karachi soon joined hands as they found the approach to be rational and convincing. As the Center grew more popular and the number of visitors expanded, Brother Shaikh decided to present his lectures at larger gatherings through the patronage of donors. His initial lectures were hosted at community venues or family gatherings, but now the need arose for a more organized approach, and this saw a series of lectures being held in the 1990’s at the Finance and Trade center auditorium in the heart of Karachi’s financial district. In a way these lectures were Brother Shaikh’s first full fledged public appearances and along with supporters, these also brought him a fair share of critics, mostly ranging from conservative religious seminaries. In those days Karachi was infamous for religious intolerance and an unsympathetic attitude to diversity of beliefs and critics of Brother Shaikh pressurized the owners of lecture halls and public venues to bar him from holding his talks or else they were warned of dire consequences. In view of this, the need arose for a more private and secure venue for conducting programs and consequently funds were raised for a custom built hall and accompanying research center for IIPC to be constructed at PECH Society of Karachi. It was at this new center that further lectures were recorded adding new titles to the earlier series of topics and till date it continues to enable an uninterrupted delivery of Qur’anic education.

ASSOCIATION WITH SHAIKH AHMED DEEDAT

In the late 1980’s Brother Shaikh maintained a brief association with the late Ahmed Deedat, South African scholar of comparative religion and founder of Islamic Propagation Center International (IPCI). Initially Brother Shaikh was the main distributor of Deedat’s videos in Pakistan and was much inspired by his lectures on comparative religion. During Deedat’s tour of Pakistan, he used to muster support for his talks and also organized his lectures in Karachi. In 1988 Brother Shaikh was selected by Deedat to undergo training on Daw’ah and comparative religion at the IPCI in Durban, South Africa where he was joined by Daee’s from around the globe.
It can be observed that although a brief student-teacher relationship was maintained, Brother Shaikh does not follow Ahmed Deedat in entirety. He has adopted Ahmed Deedat’s approach on Biblical criticism and Muslim-Christian dialogue, but a comparative analysis of the lectures of these two speakers demonstrates that they have different positions on a variety of issues. E.g. while Ahmed Deedat considers some parts of the Judeo-Christian Scripture to be divine, Mohammad Shaikh maintains that it is entirely a man-made work. Similarly Ahmed Deedat’s lectures were more about analyzing Christianity and its sources from a Muslim standpoint, while Mohammed Shaikh’s presentation is more about Qur’anic exegesis, and how it differs from the Bible. While this disparity is evident, Brother Shaikh holds the highest reverence for his former teacher, and continues to broadcast his debates and lectures through IIPC TV.

APPROACH TO THE QUR’AN

Evident from his lectures, Brother Shaikh’s main standpoint is that the Qur’an needs to be seen through its own inflection and in its pure form without any adulteration whatsoever, as it is a divine text accessible to all who want guidance from it. While viewing his presentations it is apparent that his point of difference is almost entirely with the Judeo-Christian tradition, namely the Bible and he is rarely directly critical of Muslim traditionalism. However by explaining the Qur’an through the inflection of Ayaat, he makes it obvious in a subtle manner that most traditional beliefs that have crept within Islamic canon have their origin from the Bible and not the Qur’an. He thus appeals to his listeners to prefer the Qur’anic viewpoint instead of the Biblical or traditional one. This call to the Qur’an in its pristine form has brought Mohammad Shaikh at loggerheads with the traditional schools of thoughts and conservative religious scholars, who find his approach to be novel and see their own traditional faith strongly challenged by his teachings. While viewing his lectures it can be seen that his expositions on numerous contemporary subjects such as Hijab, Jihad, Riba, Qitaal, Vision of Ibraheem, Book of Moosa, Kaabah and Qibla etc. is radically different from classical as well as contemporary scholarship and offer unique insights for Qur’anic understanding, much different from the tradition based or politicized version of the faith.

OPPOSITION FROM EXTREMISTS AND ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

It is evident from the debates held at the end of his talks that most criticism to Mohammad Shaikh is from traditional and conservative elements, who find his presentations to go against their narrow interpretations.
This opposition reached a climax and brought another testing time in the spring of 2005. An armed intruder broke into the IIPC building in Karachi and fired gunshots at Brother Shaikh from a very close range. Luckily the assassin’s bullets did not prove fatal, and the brother was immediately rushed to hospital and under went life-saving surgery. Following the assassination attempt Brother Shaikh recuperated for a few months and later in the same year after recovering, performed the Hajj along with his family. Even to this day visitors to his programs can witness that he has not been deterred by threats and opposition and still continues to lecture audiences in Karachi as well as global audiences through the internet.

MISSION OF DA’WAH

As a Da’ee Brother Shaikh strives to give preference and promotion to the Qur’an as the center point for Islamic beliefs and the principle text for governing the everyday life of a Muslim. His availability for Da’wah is all year round, even though he has come under physical attack in the past and faces opposition from the extremists of strife-ridden Pakistan and anti-Islam forces. He has often commented to colleagues at the center that he started his mission solely for Allah and will keep it going solely for His sake as worldly hazards are no match for the divine displeasure that will result when one fails to do his duty.