TALKING POINT: Syed Bilal Qutab regularly conducts seminars and workshops to engage the youth in constructive debates.

By Umer Nangiana


Pakistani Sufi scholar, academician and TV personality Syed Bilal Qutab is the next speaker at 27th lecture series of Pakistan Art Society (PAS) held annually for the members of the Pakistani community.
PAS, a Doha-based socio-cultural and literary society of expatriates, has a long cherished tradition of inviting well-known intellectuals and philosophers from Pakistan and organising highly informative and thought provoking lectures.
Famous TV show host and senior journalist from Pakistan, Sohail Warraich of Aik Din Geo Kay Saath (One day with Geo) — Geo is Pakistan’s premier TV news channel — was invited to deliver a talk on the topic of ‘I am Optimistic About Pakistan’ at last year’s lecture held at Pak Shama School auditorium.
Qutab, an architect by profession, also rose to fame with Geo TV’s popular show Aalim Online (Scholar Online). He has gone on to host and appear on many popular TV shows across local language channels in Pakistan, gathering a sizeable viewership particularly among the youth.
Qutab, also an assistant professor at Department of Architecture in National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore, has been invited to deliver the lecture on ‘Character Building of Pakistani Youth.’ The scholar, who is widely respected among the Pakistani youth for his modern approach to argument and debate and his extensive research in the field of Sufism and religion, will be talking to the members of Pakistani community in Qatar for the first time through the PAS platform.
The lecture series is a continuation of PAS’ declared pledge to actively participate in the on-going Pakistan Day celebrations in Qatar as confirmed by the society’s Chairman M A Shahid and President Mohammad Abrar Hussain in a General Body meeting of the society.
Qutab’s lecture will be 27th of the series and will be held in the second week of May. PAS will soon announce the exact date and venue for the lecture.
PAS is expecting a large number of community members will provide audience for Qutab whom they have been regularly seeing on TV for the past few years. In addition to his media career, Qutab is also an active motivational trainer and technical human resource consultant associated with big names. He has been engaged in teaching activities at Boston University in the USA.
As a trainer and counsellor, he is admired for his great communication skills, his knowledge, and wisdom over social matters and human psychology. He frequently delivers lectures at universities, conferences, seminars and workshops.
His research paper ‘Sustainability: a Muslim perspective’ has been published by Edge Hill University, Lancashire, UK, and NCA, Lahore. He has also published a book Banam-e-Khuda, which is a collection of articles and lectures and is available in many countries other than Pakistan.
Through his TV talk shows and his active participation at social media platforms, Qutab holds an extensive viewership around the globe. He is particularly popular among youth, though his admirers come across all age groups. He is, at present, associated with Samaa TV, and his programme has gathered one of the largest viewerships in the TV channel’s history.
Before Samaa, Qutab has hosted many programmes and shows on various TV channels, including GEO, Dunya, Samaa, A plus Entertainment, Express and Value. He has also appeared as guest in various morning shows and prime time talk shows on all major TV channels in Pakistan.
PAS-Qatar says it strives for creating greater awareness among the Pakistani community, especially youth, of their history, culture, national identity and patriotism, and urge them to avail the opportunity to meet Qutab face-to-face and listen to him.
The topic of the lecture has special relevance to the students, who gain valuable knowledge through such interaction. More information about the programme and the speaker can be obtained directly from PAS by contacting them as through SMS on 55815912 or e-mail to [email protected]