Qatar Radio hosts Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Al-Naimi on its Ramadan Nights Program

30 Apr Qatar Radio hosts Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Al-Naimi on its Ramadan Nights Program

On Tuesday evening, 27th April, the Ramadan Nights program – which is broadcast daily throughout the month of Ramadan on Qatar Radio – hosted Professor Dr. Ibrahim Saleh Al-Naimi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue, to discuss the activities and programs of the Center during the blessed month of Ramadan. Especially in light of the exceptional situation of the Corona pandemic, which has limited gatherings and requires instead that all meetings be remote. What follows is a summary of the conversation.

Host: How did the Doha Center for Interfaith Dialogue receive the blessed month of Ramadan?

Dr. Ibrahim: Firstly, I wish all goodness for the years to come and for our beloved country Qatar, may there always be goodness and peace for the leadership and people and everyone who lives on its land. On these blessed days and this holy month, we ask God to lift this epidemic from us and on all worlds, Aameen.

There is no doubt that the month of Ramadan is unique to the rest of the year for all Muslims, as well as for anyone, as well as non-Muslims who live in Muslim countries.

The Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue (DICID) is a Qatari institution concerned with dialogue and spreading the culture of peace and coexistence among all human beings; Therefore, the month of Ramadan – the month of benevolence, blessing and faith – is one of the best times of the year and the greatest opportunity to practice all the religious and human values that our noble Islamic religion urges us to do, including tolerance, love, brotherhood and generosity…

Therefore, the Center always attaches these aims to its activities and events in this holy month, which strengthens us in our values first and then in others, so that they know the truth of this religion.

Host: What about the activities program of the Doha Center for Interfaith Dialogue in the Holy Month?

Dr. Ibrahim: The Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue’s reception for the month of Ramadan this year as well as last year also differed from what we used to do in this holy month in terms of the center’s activities and events. The Ramadan Gathering we used to host usually attended by about 2000 people, including religious scholars, officials of community organizations residing in Qatar, businessmen, scholars, academics, teachers, a group of activists and personalities from the media, in addition to the general membership of the Indian community along with groups of non-Muslims as well. But due to the new circumstances and precautionary measures in place to control the outbreak of the Coronavirus, matters have changed this year. While we have not stop this significant event, we have instead made it a virtual remote meeting with the same interest and invitation to influential personalities and communities. God willing, the online event will take place on Friday, 18th Ramadan 1442/30 April 2021 AD under the title, ‘United we Stand’.

Host: What message does this program carry, and what distinguishes it in the month of mercy and solidarity?

Dr. Ibrahim: The center’s mission in general is to establish a culture of dialogue among followers of religions. In order to better understand the religious principles and teachings to harness them to serve all humanity, based on mutual respect and recognition of differences, and such programs, activities and events, especially in the month of Ramadan, reflect Qatar’s vision of treating all citizens and residents living on its land, integrating them and supporting them with their various religious and ethnic affiliations and cultures.

Host: How can these events enhance the culture of dialogue and peaceful coexistence within the Qatari society?

Dr. Ibrahim: The importance of anything arises from the severity of the need for it, and now, our societies, and even the whole world, are most in need (for dialogue, peace and love); And to face the waves of intense hatred and conflicts.
Therefore, we at the center are keen to push this spirit and consolidate these values first in our society with all its implications, and then also at the international level through our international conferences held by the center.
To enhance this, we have constant activities that we carry out with the communities in Qatar on a regular basis, the most important of which are:

Communities Round Tables: We hold them with the aim of discussing social issues of concern to the communities in Qatar. In order to consolidate the culture of peaceful coexistence between all who live on the land of Qatar (citizens and residents), with the aim of understanding and cordial interaction between all communities of the Qatari society. The university academics located in Qatar guide and inform the topic under discussion at each table.

Among the topics of the round tables that we have discussed are: The role of education in strengthening ties between communities in Qatar, The legal culture in the State of Qatar, Communities under the blockade: solidarity and challenges. Just a few months ago, we raised the topic at the tenth round table: ‘The effects of the Corona pandemic on communities: challenges and confrontation.’

Host: What is the mechanism adopted by the Center to implement these activities in light of the pandemic?

Dr. Ibrahim: Despite the circumstances imposed by the Corona pandemic to prevent in-person meetings; We at the center have been keen to continue our work and activities (remotely). We have our own platform on the Zoom application and we hold all our seminars through it, and our website and our social media pages are becoming more active even than they were in normal circumstances.

– The Ramadan Gathering with the Indian community, which we will hold on Friday April 30, Ramadan 18th.
– On March 3, 2021, a round table was organized in cooperation with the College of Islamic Studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University on, “Minorities and the rise of hate speech in the West – causes and solutions” (remotely).
– On February 16, 2021, the tenth round table for communities was organized in Qatar “The Effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Communities: Challenges and Confrontation” (remotely as well)

Host: What is the plan set by the center to enhance its role locally and abroad in order to create a spirit of peace among all human beings?

Dr. Ibrahim: One of the main issues concerned with the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue is peace and achieving coexistence for all human being. Therefore, the Center is focusing its activities to exert more efforts in this regard. As we can see, hate groups in the world are spreading wildfire, and dialogue centers are unfortunately limited. Therefore, we have the responsibility to highlight the religious values that encourage love, tolerance, respect for the opinion of the other and coexistence with others.

To achieve this, we are working in two directions: a local and international objective.
The international objective is based on ensuring that the center remains one of the global centers concerned with dialogue, and participates in most activities to help spread peace and build relationships and sound coexistence among followers of religions. And the challenges that prevent coexistence and peaceful coexistence.

Locally: We aim to create a generation of Qataris, citizens and residents, where coexistence and peace are a feature for them, and work to respect other religions and other opinions, listen, debate and dialogue.

Host: What are your upcoming programs?

Dr. Ibrahim: In the coming period, we have several major projects, both internationally and locally, at the center.
We are preparing to hold two international conferences:

1- The Fourteenth Doha Conference for Interfaith Dialogue: titled “Religions and Hate Speech between Practice and Texts,” which was scheduled to be held on March 3-4, 2020, and was postponed due to the circumstances of the Coronavirus pandemic and in the interest of the safety of the participants, This conference is held periodically and is attended by more than 300 personalities from 70 countries, in addition to the participants from the State of Qatar. It is also during the fourteenth conference that ‘The Fourth Doha International Prize for Interfaith Dialogue’ will be awarded.

2-An international conference in cooperation with an American institution specialized in interfaith and intercultural dialogue, the “Multi-Faith Neighbors Network”

The idea of this conference stems from a joint project between us by choosing three American cities, gathering clerics from different religions from these cities, holding (two conferences and two round tables) in two years (2021 and 2022), and holding a summit for religious freedom for religious leaders in the world to be on the sidelines of the conference.