Maulana Muhammad Abdul Qadir Azad, who served the faithful as Grand Imam in the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore for about 30 years and died in January 2003, was considered “a great promoter of interreligious peace and harmony and above all of dialogue between Christians and Muslims. He was a great religious leader and a lover of peace. He was an ardent promoter of harmony between different Muslim communities and people of other religions”: says the Dominican, Fr James Channan, director of the “Peace Centre” in Lahore, preaching in the Badshahi Mosque, the “Royal Mosque” in Lahore.

On January 18, before the usual Friday Prayer, Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad, current Grand Imam of the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore and son of the late Abdul Qadir Azad, organized an interreligious conference to pay tribute to his father and invited Fr Channan to preach from the pulpit of the mosque, and addressed all the faithful Muslims present.