Prof. Ibrahim Saleh Al-Naimi receives Jihad Dib at the DICID Headquarters

04 Oct Prof. Ibrahim Saleh Al-Naimi receives Jihad Dib at the DICID Headquarters

His Excellency Prof. Ibrahim Saleh Al-Naimi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue (DICID) Qatar, received Mr. Jihad Dib, Shadow Minister for Emergency Services and Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change, Member of the Legislative Assembly, Member for Lakemba, and Member of the Australian Labor Party.

Prof. Ibrahim Saleh Al-Naimi opened the meeting by thanking the visitor, welcoming the honorable guest and expressing his pleasure for this visit. He stressed the importance of strengthening interfaith dialogue and that DICID is ready to open communication channels with all parties and cooperate with international actors who want to jointly open horizons for dialogue between different cultures and work according to a clear strategy to spread the values of love and peace in the world. He said, “DICID pays great attention to such visits as they are a concrete expression of building bridges of communication and trust and paving ways for cooperation between parties involved in interfaith and intercultural relations and dialogue among civilizations, cultures and religions.”

On the other hand, Mr. Dib stressed that he was eager to visit DICID during his visit to Doha. He appreciated “the great role of DICID in spreading true religious values and promoting a culture of dialogue among religions to achieve peaceful coexistence among adherents.” Mr. Dib also praised DICID’s fruitful contributions at the international level.

Speaking about Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue, Prof. Ibrahim mentioned that since its establishment, DICID has been working to create a platform for dialogue to approach the common goals of different religions and cultures. DICID strives to combine and unite efforts to address the challenges that threaten human security and peaceful coexistence.

Then Prof. Ibrahim elaborated on the various activities of DICID and the different means to achieve its goals. He said: “the most important of these are annual conferences, roundtable discussions for local communities, and training courses for youth, teachers, women, social activists, and others, both in Qatar and abroad”. The center also conducts scientific research in collaboration with researchers from leading universities and research centers around the world. To achieve its goals, DICID also promotes publications that contribute to peacebuilding and dialogue, create an environment of acceptance, and shape a balanced and moderate mindset that recognizes pluralism and works for better coexistence. These publications can be found in DICID’s peer-reviewed journal RELIGIONS, its regular newsletter, translations, and selected papers.

On the other hand, Mr. Dib pointed out the importance of putting into practice the theories about the various aspects and principles of interfaith dialogue. This is because this practice has a great impact on multi-ethnic societies like Australia, especially on the group of young people, particularly in today’s world where conflicts and tensions between different races, ethnicities and religions are beginning to escalate.

At the end of the meeting, Mr. Dib expressed his pleasure for this visit and his hope that this will be an opportunity for future cooperation with DICID and participation in its annual conference.

It is worth noting that Jihad Dib is an Australian politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly in the 2015 New South Wales state election as the member for Lakemba for the Labor Party. He is the first Muslim MP to represent the seat of Lakemba, which has the highest proportion of Muslims in NSW, and the first Muslim MP in the NSW Lower House. Mr. Dib was born in Lebanon and migrated to Australia with his family when he was two years old. He began his career as a teacher at Ulladulla High School. He served as principal of Punchbowl Boys High School from 2007 to 2014. He has served in the following positions: Shadow Minister for Multiculturalism, Shadow Minister for Juvenile Justice, Shadow Minister for Skills and TAFE, Shadow Minister for Youth, Shadow Minister for Education and a member of the Joint Select Committee on the Anti-Discrimination (Religious Freedoms and Equality) Act 2020.

In conclusion, His Excellency Prof. Ibrahim thanked the guest for his time, efforts and visit and expressed the importance of communication and joint action to serve both sides and achieve a culture of dialogue, coexistence and tolerance.