Three-day Islamabad ‘Seerat Festival’ pays tribute to life of Prophet Muhammad

The still image taken from a video on September 20, 2024, shows a banner of a religious festival called the 'Seerat Festival', displayed outside a local university building in Islamabad, Pakistan. (AN Photo)
Short Url
  • Festival’s theme is ‘Searching for World Peace through Prophet Muhammad’s Teachings’
  • Festival organized by National Rahmatul-lil-Alameen Wa Khatamun Nabiyyin Authority 

ISLAMABAD: A three-day cultural and religious event to celebrate and honor the life and teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) commenced in Islamabad on Friday, with a senior Pakistani minister emphasizing that Muslims could carve out their place in the world by following the teachings of Islam.
The “Seerat Festival” began with an international conference, “Searching for World Peace: In the Light of the Prophet’s Teachings,” organized by the National Rehmat-ul-Alameen and Khatam-un-Nabiyyin Authority (NRKNA) at a local university in the federal capital.
The authority, established in 2021, aims to advance research on the life of the Prophet (PBUH) and contribute to the moral and ethical development of Pakistani youth.
The Seerat Festival, held during Rabi’ Al-Awwal, the third month of the Islamic calendar when the Prophet (PBUH) was born, is part of the government’s initiatives to highlight his life and teachings as crucial for the development of modern Muslim communities.
“We will start a new movement of knowledge,” Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said while addressing the conference. “Muslims will once again become world leaders of knowledge. We will take action in accordance with the character of the Prophet (PBUH).”
Speaking to Arab News, the top official of the Pakistani authority that organized the event said this was the first time the country had held the Seerat Festival.
“A number of activities are going on here,” Khurshid Nadeem, the NRKNA chairman, said. “One is today’s international conference on the concept of peace in the light of the teaching of the Holy Prophet. We are asking the new generation to learn about, to study about the Seerat [way of life] of the Prophet and then go and act according to his teachings.”
He maintained it was essential for the young generation in Pakistan to develop a close relationship with the Prophet’s (PBUH) life.
The Islamic scholars present at the gathering, where handwritten manuscripts of the Holy Qur’an had also been displayed, emphasized the significance of following in the footsteps of the Prophet (PBUH).
The conference was also attended by young students who described it a good learning experience.
“At this festival, we learned a lot, especially how to implement the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in our daily lives,” said Wareeha Adnan, a first-year student at a local college in Islamabad.