On Wednesday evening, 18th July 2018, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, hosted a reception at Lambeth Palace with the Grand Imam, Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb Shaykh al-Azhar, to celebrate the first successful programme of ‘The Emerging Peacemakers’ Forum’.
The Emerging Peacemakers’ Forum is jointly organised by Lambeth Palace, The Muslim Council of Elders, Al-Azhar Al-Sharif and the Rose Castle Foundation. It aims to equip young Christian and Muslim leaders in peacemaking and reconciliation. The first programme brought together 25 young people from the Arab world and 25 from across Europe for ten days of intensive discussion and training held at the University of Cambridge and at Lambeth Palace. The participants had the opportunity to engage directly with the Archbishop and the Grand Imam.
The reception evening featured addresses in the garden of Lambeth Palace from the Archbishop and the Grand Imam, followed by dinner and awarding of certificates to the participants. The reception evening was attended by numerous dignitaries from across London and from other parts of the UK.
On behalf of Shaykh Muhammad Imdad Hussain Pirzada, the Vice-President of Al-Azhar Alumni UK, Bakhtyar Pirzada al-Azhari, attended the event where he had the opportunity to meet and converse with Archbishop Justin Welby and Revd Mark Poulson from Lambeth Palace; Georgia May from the Rose Castle Foundation; the Grand Imam, Shaykh Dr Hasan Shafi, Dr Abdel Dayem Nosaer, Advisor Muhammad Abdul Salam from Al-Azhar Al-Sharif.
