A leading Islamic scholar, and a winner of the King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies, has slammed orientalists in the West for spreading false information about the religion. Muhammad Mustafa Azmi, who specialises in Hadith studies, said: “Their false and misleading works are now called research but have no valid arguments.” He was speaking at a workshop organised by Lajna Ilmiya, a Riyadh-based body formed by graduates from Darul Uloom Deoband, the renowned Islamic seminary in India, on 28 March.
He urged Islamic teachers to preach righteousness and truth. “If we had followed the Qur’ān and Hadith in our education, the misleading gossip of the enemies of Islam would not have influenced many of us.” Earlier, he also urged the Ummah to use the Hijri calendar.