By Iqbal Siddiqui
[Courtesy: Crescent International, July 1-15, 2000.]

The Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT)'s Seerah conference in Karachi on June 25, 2000, was a one-day follow-up to its larger conference in Sri Lanka a week earlier. It was also a follow-up to a similar one-day conference held in Islamabad in 1998, on the global Islamic movement.

The latest conference was held at the Pearl Continental Hotel, Karachi. The overseas speakers included Zafar Bangash and Imam Muhammad Al-Asi of the ICIT, Sr Waheeda Carvello of the Al-Ghazali College, Erasmia, South Africa, and Iqbal Siddiqui, editor of Crescent International. The local speakers were Dr Perwez Shafi, director of the ICIT in Pakistan, Dr Muhammad Shafeeq Siddiqui of the Department of Islamic History, University of Karachi, and Sr Jahan Ara Lutfi, of the Skaikh Zayd Islamic Centre, University of Karachi.

The response of the local audience, made up largely of academics, journalists, Islamic activists and students, was such that the panel discussion, due to last 45 minutes and end at 2.30pm, resumed after lunch and was continued for an extra two hours. There was particular interest in the ICIT's broad and inclusive approach to the Islamic movement, and the open-minded and forward-looking understanding of the position and role of women put forward by Sisters Waheeda Carvello and Jahan Ara Lutfi.

Speaking after the conference, ICIT director Zafar Bangash said: "The response to the conference and our ideas reflects the great need for original and forward looking Islamic ideas in Pakistan. This is an area where the ICIT is planning to increase our presence and intensify our work in the near future, insha'Allah.