CHAIRMAN MEETS THE AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR

Chairman Meets the Australian Ambassador

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Naimi, Chairman of the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue (DICID), met H.E Dr. Axel Wabenhorst, the Australian Ambassador in Doha. They discussed how DICID might cooperate with Australian research centers and universities interested in dialogue between religions and cultures.

Dr. Wabenhorst praised the Center’s activities and efforts to build bridges through ongoing dialogues with various stakeholders; to achieve a peaceful coexistence between religions; and to promote effective cooperation between the followers of all religions to improve humanity’s troubled relations.

 The Chairman stressed the willingness of the center to cooperate with all parties interested in working together.

            The Australian Ambassador revealed that the first evidence of Islamic presence in Australia is a mosque built in 1880. He noted that Australia has always been open for all religions, and pointed out that the Islamic veils called burkas were first designed by an Australian Muslim woman, thus showing the cultural and religious diversity in Australia.

It is worth mentioning that Australia’s Monash University is in the process of establishing a new center for interfaith dialogue. It intends to develop fruitful cooperation with DICID and various interfaith organizations around the world to entrench the principle of religious dialogue and humanize intercultural relations in a world full of misunderstanding and intolerance.

DICID has prepared a busy schedule of local and international activities and events to promote interfaith dialogue this year. DICID invites the public—including researchers, students, and volunteers of all faiths—to visit its headquarters located in the southern part of Medinat Khalifa.