His Excellency, the British Ambassador to the State of Qatar Visits DICID

26 Mar His Excellency, the British Ambassador to the State of Qatar Visits DICID

In the context of strengthening the Center’s international relations, His Excellency Dr. Ibrahim bin Saleh Al Naimi, Chairman of the Center’s Board of Directors, received British Ambassador to the State of Qatar, His Majesty Mr. Jonathan Paul Wilkes, with an accompanying delegation from the British Embassy, on Sunday morning, 21 March 2021.

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Naimi welcomed them to the Center, stressing the importance of promoting interfaith dialogue and working towards a clear strategy aimed at spreading the values of love and peace throughout the world, so that love replaces hate, and tolerance is a substitute for fanaticism, and integration instead of contempt, so that humanity can live in harmony.

For his part, His Excellency the Ambassador praised the role of the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue and its efforts to enhance the culture of interfaith dialogue to achieve peaceful coexistence among religious adherents and to reject intolerance. He then presented his extensive experience in the Middle East and his employment in many positions since the beginning of the nineties in Arab countries, especially the Gulf which made for direct communication within the Eastern culture in addition to his Excellency’s expert Arabic speaking skills.

As part of Dr. Al-Naimi’s brief on the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue, he stated that since its inception, it has sought to create a platform for dialogue to converge minds towards common purposes among followers of different religions and cultures. In order to unify efforts to face the challenges that threaten security and peaceful coexistence among human beings, Dr. Al-Naimi then touched on the various activities of the Center that it undertakes, at the local and international levels, and stated that at the local level the Center regularly organizes training courses for students and teachers in schools.

With the aim of training followers of different religions and cultures in dialogue and communication skills, the center also organizes educational lectures and round tables for the communities residing in Qatar, in addition to the “Religions” magazine that is published in Arabic and English, periodicals, translated books, selected articles, and publications related to the Center’s activities. Some of them are translated into European languages, including German, French and Spanish, in addition to opening the Center’s library specialized in comparative studies of religions and dialogue. Dr. Al-Naimi also touched on the status of religious freedom in Qatar and that it is guaranteed to the followers of all religions in Qatar, so they may practice their religious rituals with ease and without any difficulties.

For his part, Mr. Jonathan Paul Wilkes pointed to the importance of the application of the principles of interfaith dialogue, and the great impact that this has on multi-ethnic societies, especially in the recent period in which tension began to escalate between the two and various other ethnic and religious conflicts that the world is witnessing.

His Excellency added that the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue will do the necessary important work. Especially in the coming period when Qatar receives the 2022 World Cup, and the eyes of the whole world will be on Qatar. This will be a good opportunity to highlight the tolerance and diversity of the Qatari society and its acceptance of others.

It is worth noting that the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue is considered as one of the leading Arab Centers in the field of interfaith dialogue, and is active in its field of specialization, in cooperation with all relevant institutions at the local, regional and international levels.