Scholars call for renewed dialogue

24 Apr Scholars call for renewed dialogue

The 10th Doha Conference on Interfaith Dialogue opened here yesterday with a call to revive the culture of dialogue to fight the deepening divide on sectarian and religious lines in several countries of the world including the Arab region.

The three-day conference has brought together about 500 delegates from 75 countries including religious leaders and scholars and representatives of interfaith organisations.

The opening session of the conference also saw the presentation of the first Doha International Award for Interfaith Dialogue instituted by the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue (DICID), organisers of the conference.

The Minister of Justice H E Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghanem in his inaugural address said that the world has now become a global village making it impossible for religious communities to distance from each other.

“There is no place in the world for closed communities and scholars and wise men agree on calls for dialogue and reject the culture of cancellation and exclusion,” said the Minister.

“The religious and sectarian alignment which we are now witnessing in some parts of the Arab world and the world in general makes it imperative on wise people to seriously act to revive the culture of dialogue and mutual respect and protect the historical bases for coexistence based on respect of religious values and teachings of the prophets,” he added.

He said Qatar has framed its policies by leaning from experiences all over the world and did not discriminate between people of different cultures and religions.

“Qatar today has become an oasis of human brotherhood where people belonging to more than 100 different nationalities are living in,” said the Minister, adding that Qatar has been hosting this international conference over the past 10 years.

He said Qatar is now standing with the oppressed Syrian people who are facing an oppressive regime which is bombing their houses, mosques and churches with rockets, tanks and aircraft.

The Syrian regime is insistently spreading seeds of sectarianism and hatred to strengthen the alignment of religious minorities behind the regime.

This is an insult to religions and the culture of coexistence which Syria and other countries of the region have known for thousands of years, said the Minister. He condemned the reported crimes being committed in Myanmar against Rohingya Muslim minority and the injustices committed by the Israeli forces against the Palestinians in Gaza.

He said the Qatari Justice Ministry has prepared the Arab guide draft law to prevent blasphemy of religions with emphasis on Islam and Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and deal with the related electronic crimes and produce effective legislative mechanisms to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to justice at the national and international levels.

The Arab Justice Ministers’ Council in its recent meeting had issued a resolution to take measures to study the draft law for adopting it as a model by the Arab countries.

The Minister on behalf of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani presented the first Doha International Award for Interfaith Dialogue to Dr Mohammed El Sammak from Lebanon. The $100,000 award has been conferred to the best institution or personality having effective contributions or distinguished projects to promote interfaith dialogue.

Dr Ali Mohiyeddin Al Quradaghi, general secretary of the International Union of Muslim Scholars called on religious communities to unite to address the serious problems facing the world.

“The world today is facing a number of problems ranging from spiritual vacuum, family and social disunity, financial and economic crisis in the developed countries, dictatorship, oppression, poverty and civil war in the third world countries to environmental pollution and desertification,” he said.

Racism, violence, and terrorism under different brands are also threatening peace and security, hindering coexistence of communities all over the world.

Claudio Gregorio Epelman, executive director of Latin American Jewish Congress said the Doha conference is a good opportunity to exchange views and promote understanding between different faiths.

“I want to convey the message of love and peace to all the world. It is the responsibility of religious leaders to build peace between faiths believing in one God,” said Epelman.

Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, deputy president of political council for inter-religious dialogue at Vatican City said the Council has been encouraging dialogue based on reality, love and mutual respect between different faiths. He said the new Pope in Vatican has stressed the importance of friendship between Islam, Christianity and Judaism.