Received His Eminence, the Grand Mufti of the Republic of Kosovo

02 Aug Received His Eminence, the Grand Mufti of the Republic of Kosovo

In the context of strengthening relations with the Republic of Kosovo, His Excellency Dr. Ibrahim bin Saleh Al Naimi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue received His Eminence, the Grand Mufti of the Republic of Kosovo who is also the President of the Islamic Community of Kosovo, Shaikh Naim Ternava and his Cabinet Assistant Mr. Besim Mehmeti on Thursday afternoon, July 1, 2021 at the main office for the Center in Katara Cultural Village.

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Naimi firstly welcomed the guests to the center and expressed great pleasure at their visit. For his part, the Grand Mufti of the Republic of Kosovo, Shaikh Naim Ternava commended the Center and its work. The ensuing discussion emphasized the importance of promoting #interfaith dialogue, to spread the values of peace, mutual understanding and coexistence throughout the world especially during the shift to online platforms such as Zoom and MS Teams for the past two years due to the circumstances posed by the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Grand Mufti, Shaikh Naim Ternava discussed the interfaith relations in Kosovo and the activities of the Islamic Community of Kosovo – Prishtina. Dr. Al-Naimi also touched on various other activities carried out by the center, at the local or international level. He mentioned that the center, locally, organizes training courses for students and teachers in independent and private schools with the aim of capacity building in dialogue and communication skills when engaged with followers of different religions and cultures. The center also organizes educational lectures and round tables for communities residing in Qatar.

Towards the end of the meeting, as a token of appreciation and honour Dr. Ibrahim Al-Naimi presented Shaikh Naim Ternava and Mr. Besim Mehmeti with a selection of the center’s recent publications; the issue on ‘Religions and Human Rights, the fourteenth issue of the Religions journal, the center’s periodic bulletin and a number of other publications. Shaikh Naim Ternava then extended his invitation to visit Kosovo and its mosque and presented a souvenir from Prishtina to the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue.

It is worth noting that the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue is considered one of the leading Arab centers in the field of interfaith dialogue in the Middle East, and is active in its field of specialization, in cooperation with all relevant institutions at the local, regional and international levels. The Center has also participated in several interfaith conferences organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo, Sheikh Naim and a number of other officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kosovo who had also participated in the Doha International Conferences for Interfaith Dialogue organized by the Center which seeks to draw benefit from the pioneering Qatari experience in the interfaith field, which could then be emulated to promote peaceful coexistence among members of society.