Qamaruzzaman Azmi


Qamaruzzaman Azmi (b. 23 March 1946

Life

Azmi was a graduate of the Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama in Lucknow in 1963. He was commissioned in 1966 at the by Abdul Aziz Muradabadi to go to Faizabad to start his missionary work. There at the age of eighteen years he established the Islamic university, Al-Jame-atul-Islamia. He is also considered by some to be the spiritual heir of Mustafa Raza Khan, son of Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi.
On 7 August 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron, along with Faiths Minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, met Azmi.
Azmi has helped to build organisations and institutions including mosques, colleges and universities in America, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Belgium and India.

Views

Phillip Lewis quotes Azmi in his 1994 book Islamic Britain: Religion, Politics and Identity among British Muslims, that Islam and secular society can co-exist and "the widely shared perception that secular necessarily implies irreligion is simply wrong. In India, he contends, a secular state can offer security to Muslims since it is compatible with acknowledging that religion is important and, that in a religiously plural environment the state does not allow believers in one religious tradition to enjoy a privileged status. All are citizens with equal rights. Indeed, in India, Muslims are allowed to conform to their own Muslim family law".
Azmi has opposed the practice of female genital mutilation. Azmi also holds that Aisha, the wife of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, was an example of a strong and intelligent female role model.
He has also opposed extremism and terrorism and argues that those who use the name of Islam for such acts are, in fact, Islam's enemies. He endorsed a fatwa against Britons joining Islamic extremists.
On the murder of British aid worker David Cawthorne Haines by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, he said "we condemn this act of evil by people who are pure evil. There is no legitimacy for such evilness in Islam".
He condemns the persecution of Christians and other non-Muslims, arguing that the perpetrators "are not Muslims because Islam teaches the importance of ensuring a good place in society for all people".