DICID to organise lecture on golden age of religious harmony

20 Jun DICID to organise lecture on golden age of religious harmony

The Doha International Centre for Interfaith Dialogue (DICID) organised a public lecture titled ‘Cordoba in the Muslim Era’ in July at Sheraton Doha Hotel.

Noted historian Dr. Farhat Hussain described how life was for many who existed during the Islamic Spain Era, commonly known as the ‘golden age’ of religious and ethnic tolerance and interfaith harmony between Muslims, Christians, and Jews.

The illustrated lecture presentation included a photo exhibition and a film viewing on the ancient city of Cordoba, which once was Europe’s cultural capital, 1,000 years ago.

“We live in a world today where prejudice, suspicion, and ignorance on different cultures and different religions exist. When people discuss history between Europe and the Islamic world, they usually focus on the crusades and the war. But our work focuses on the positive relationships between the civilisations. So, we’re not only speak about what went on in ancient Cordoba every day. We make it clear, that there were Muslims, Christians, and Jews living in Cordoba, who were working together, studying together, as well as training together very peacefully. This is helping us to frame our mind and help us to understand more how we can achieve success today in regard to respecting one another. Cordoba is a good historical model for respect for different cultures and faiths today,” he said.

“Doha is now the capital of Arab culture, and this is something that we congratulate Doha on. The whole world looks to Doha and we’re proud of the activities going on. Similarly, Cordoba was the capital of Europe 1,000 years ago. When London and Paris had 20,000 people a thousand years ago, the population of Cordoba was one million. While we’re celebrating Doha as capital of Arab culture, we should do so in such a way that we celebrate the achievements of another capital of culture a thousand years ago, which has had a massive influence on the world, and which we can benefit from,” he also said.

Prof Ibrahim Saleh al Naimi, chairman of the board of directors of DICID, said, “This lecture will definitely show our commitment as a centre to establish a wider understanding between the followers of the different faiths. It reflects our vision towards greater understanding between Muslims, Christians, Jews, and other religions”.