Under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the International Conference: “Building Bridges Between Islamic Sects” organized by the Muslim World League with the participation of representatives of Islamic sects and sects, was launched on Sunday evening in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, and near the Sacred House of God, organized by the Muslim World League with the participation of representatives of Islamic sects and sects, which announced at its opening session the Secretary General of the League, President of the Association of Muslim Scholars, Sheikh Dr. Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, on the intention of the two conferences to launch the “Document Building Bridges Between Islamic Sects”, which draws luminous landmarks and important indicative signs and builds bridges of brotherhood and cooperation among Islamic sects, for the good of the nation in the face of challenges.
The conference began with a welcome speech by the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Ara
bia, Chairman of the Council of Higher Scholars, General President of Scientific Research and Ifta, and Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Muslim World League, Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Sheikh.
The Grand Mufti explained in his speech that the Islamic religion is the religion of the meeting, which ordered the coalition, and the unity of speech and rank, and warned against division and difference, stressing that the Sunnah of the Prophet is full of everything that could unite the word of Muslims, and gather together their divisions, and remove every reason that causes hatred and hatred among them.
The Grand Mufti said that when we affirm this great origin brought by Islam, which calls for doing everything to do reasons to come to terms with Muslims, and to stay away from anything that might divide them, we first address this discourse to their scholars, because Muslims see in them the source of fatwa and religious orientation, Adding that when the world is at a level of dialogue literature, and goo
d intentions in it, Muslims are at this level of brotherly feeling and sincere closeness, Muslims in general see in their scholars the model and example.
The Grand Mufti concluded his speech by thanking the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, for his generous patronage of this conference, and for his great efforts to unify the word of Muslims and realize their interests, together with its strong and faithful member, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who is making great efforts to unite Muslims and unite their ranks.
The Grand Mufti also thanked the Muslim World League, represented by its Secretary General, Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, for organizing this conference for this noble purpose, and for the League’s continuous efforts in the service of Islam and Muslims.
His Excellency the Secretary General of the Muslim World League, Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, opened his speech by s
aying: “We, the members of the Muslim World League, are pleased to launch this historic conference, the first of its kind, in Al-Rehab Al-Tahira and in the blessed month, as a continuation of the content of the Makkah Document Al-Mukarramah.”
He pointed out that the conference – with its well-established scholars from various sectarian diversities in our Islamic world – came to confirm that the Islamic Ummah is good and that its divine scholars are good models and legal examples.
He praised the awareness of the nation’s scholars with their solid knowledge and wisdom that doctrinal diversity must accommodate many things, represented in things, including: that difference and diversity is one of the Sunnahs of Almighty God, and that truth is the demand of all and that every Muslim must seek it and the necessity of its seriousness, and that the Islamic sects are in urgent need of a word that combines them and does not divide them, which is the common Islamic whole, and no common clearer and clearer than the com
mon of the two testimonies and the rest of the pillars of Islam and its constants.
Al-Issa stressed that all the peoples of Islam are under the banner and umbrella of Islam, regardless of their different sects, and that there is no place for foreign names and descriptions that divide and do not combine, except for what has been clarified by the program revealing his description, provided that it is neither an alternative nor a competitor to the name of Islam with which God has appointed us.
Al-Issa stressed that sectarian and partisan slogans with their practices that provoke sectarian clashes and conflicts are at the forefront of the nation’s calamities, criticizing the negative use of traditional and new media to aggravate differences and stir up conflicts within Islam, calling in exchange for the inclusion of the media message (in our Islamic world) the good word and the specificity of the dialogue that composes and brings people together, in accordance with the values of the Islamic brotherhood.
At the
end of his speech, Al-Issa expressed his thanks and gratitude for the great Islamic efforts undertaken by the Islamic leaders of the Kingdom under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, praying to Almighty God to protect and reward them for what they have done and offered to Islam, Muslims and humanity as a whole.
Sheikh Al-Issa also expressed his thanks to the Holy Maqam for his generous patronage of this qualitative conference, asking Almighty God to realize the ambition and hopes, and to make it blessed with the auspicious beginning and end.
After that, the opening session of the conference began, where His Eminence the Scholar, Chairman of the Emirates Council for Shari’a Ifta, Member of the Islamic Fiqh Council, Abdullah bin Sheikh Al-Mahfouz bin Bayya, stressed that the importance of Islamic unity and its place for Islamic
societies is something on which scholars unanimously agreed, stressing that unity is a great Islamic concept that covers all individual, collective and international relations.
He explained that unity has its universal foundations, i.e., the certificate of monotheism, which represents the highest degree of unity to bring together all Islamic sects and sects, and to establish the visible rites of Islam on which Muslims gather.
Sheikh Bin Bayyah concluded his speech by praising the efforts of the Muslim World League and His Excellency Secretary-General Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa to bring Muslims closer together and build bridges of unity and coexistence among them.
For his part, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Hussein Ibrahim Taha, expressed in his speech the highest praise and gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minist
er, May God protect them, for the generous patronage of this important international conference, which comes as an extension and complement to the Kingdom’s clear and firm positions on the issues of the Islamic world, and to embody its spiritual leadership, and its continued support for all that unites and unites Muslims.
Hussein Taha stressed that he is certain that this conference will entrench the issue of rapprochement between Islamic sects and that its recommendations and results will contribute to laying the foundations and premises on which this rapprochement is based, praising the tireless activity of the League and its active presence in the service of Islam and Muslims in various parts of the world.
After that, the speakers of the opening session continued their speeches, namely a member of the Assembly of Experts of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Sheikh Ahmed Melghali, His Excellency the Minister of Awqaf and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egy
pt, Dr. Muhammad Mukhtar Juma Mabrouk, the President General of the Association for the Revival of Scholars of the Republic of Indonesia, Sheikh Muftah Al-Akhyar Abdul Ghani, the Emir of the Association of Islamic Scholars of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Sheikh Fazlur Rahman bin Mufti Mahmood, the Head of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Dr. Ali bin Abdulrahman Erbas, and the President of Dar Dar Imam Al-Khoei in Iraq, Dr. Al-Sayyid Jawad Al-Khoei, the President of the African Islamic Union, Sheikh Muhammad Al-Mahi bin Sheikh Ibrahim Nias, and the President of the Malaysian Scholars Association, Sheikh Wan Muhammad bin Abdulaziz.
On the sidelines of the conference, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Muslim World League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which was signed by the Secretary General of the League, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, and its Secretary-General, Mr. Hussein Ibrahim Taha.
The memorandum embodies the joint cooperation between th
e Muslim World League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the implementation of the outcomes of the conference “Building Bridges between Islamic Sects”, a symbol of unity and tolerance.
A memorandum of understanding was also signed between the Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Muslim World League and the International Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to strengthen cooperation in scientific research, spread a culture of tolerance and moderation, and promote Islamic unity.
The forum will continue tomorrow, Monday, through a number of sessions in which scholars and thinkers of the Islamic Ummah will discuss various issues related to cooperation among Islamic sects, strengthening common sects and consolidating the principles of sectarian diversity and the literature of difference.
Source: National News Agency – Lebanon