UAE hosts two-day international ‘Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies’ with Grand Imam Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb and Shaykh Bin Bayyah heading over 250 scholars and thinkers from around the world.
The Grand Imam calls to open networks of communication between Islamic scholars and the decision-makers from amongst the politicians.
- The Grand Imam calls for amendment to the statute mechanisms of the United Nations because the organisation has failed to safeguard the promotion of real peace.
- The Grand Imam describes the right to veto as being the most dangerous factor in compromising world peace and the most important cause of international terrorism.
- The Grand Imam expresses his concerns about nations that see nothing wrong with inventing enemies who they can then wage war against.
A first of a kind conference titled ‘Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies’ was held last week on 9 and 10 March 2014 at the St Regis Saadiyat Island Hotel in Abu Dhabi hosted by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, His Highness Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and presided by Shaykh Abdallah Bin Bayyah (President of The Global Centre for Renewal and Guidance) which brought together over 250 Islamic scholars of repute and notable thinkers from around the world including Shaykh Professor Muhammad Abdul Fadeel al-Qawsi (Vice Chairman of WAAG International), Imam Hamza Yusuf Hanson (Zaytuna Institute, USA), Shaykh Mufti Dr Shawqi Allam (Grand Mufti of Egypt) under the patronage and leadership of the Grand Imam, Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb Shaykh al-Azhar.
The opening address of the conference was delivered by Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb Shaykh al-Azhar and commenting on the address and the conference, the British delegate Imam Qari Muhammad Asim of the Leeds Makkah Masjid said, “The Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies is a timely initiative. Due to the absence of a rational voice and tolerant leadership, sectarianism is tearing the Muslim community apart. It is high time that scholars of the highest calibre such as Shaykh Abdallah Bin Bayyah and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb, have come together to ask the scholars to enlighten the hearts and minds of their communities with peace and take practical steps to reconcile hearts. Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb’s message was direct: the forum must find a solution to bloodshed.”
The Address of the Grand Imam
In his address, the Grand Imam, Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb Shaykh al-Azhar, began by saying that the topic of peace is one of many facets and perspectives and though he could not delve into them in detail, he outlined those that he saw as most pertinent. He mentioned how the many questions surrounding ‘peace’, its meaning and relationship to other sciences have continued to persist until today to such an extent that an entire science has now been devoted to the idea which includes the study of war, peace, the causes relating to them and the relationship of all these to the social, political, strategic, military and moral sciences. Philosophers of history are divided about the relationship of peace to human beings. Some are of the opinion that the history of humanity is simply filled with rivers of blood whilst others maintain that peace is a norm in human life; war and violence being an exception and aberration. As for the Islamic perspective, it holds peace to be the norm in both international and civil and domestic relations between people. War is but an exception and necessity which only compels Muslims to defend themselves, their beliefs and their lands against established oppressors.
Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb emphasised that the great contemporary nations see nothing wrong with making enemies who they can then rage war against. They move all aggression, fighting and killing from their own lands to other lands and this strategy, adopted by some contemporary political bodies, is no doubt completely counterproductive to world peace, destroying all humanitarian and ethical frameworks that make peace the most basic right of human beings and society at large. He added that the supporters of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights can clearly identify from the initial articles of the charter to protect peace and security, the principle of equality between member states, the prohibition of the use of force or the threat of it in international relations and to totally refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of others, are principles mentioned. They cannot be serious about what they themselves say. They allegedly exist for the prosperity of mankind and human development and as such should not then distinguish one state from another, nor should they discriminate a Western man from his Eastern brother. However, it is not surprising to see how an organisation such as the United Nations is unable to do its duty in preventing unjust policies. Despite the passing of 66 years since the United Nations was founded to confront the threat of world peace, the mighty powers decide who deserves to achieve peace according to their own personal advantage and methods of domination based on an immoral approach which revolves around the principle that ‘the ends justify the means’. The statute of the United Nations charter and its major institutions do not allow the implementation of peace based on the values of justice, fairness and rights of others. He emphasised the fact that one of the main factors in compromising world peace is the veto and its excessive and pointless use for individual agendas which restrict the institution from prosecuting offenders and enforcing peace in most places around the world. Many analysts have thus concluded that the American veto in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the most important cause of international terrorism.
Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb went on to make comparisons between the international charter announced by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) during the Sermon of the Final Pilgrimage – in which he declared the rights of peace, justice and equality between people – and the United Nations charter. He presented how the charter of the holy Prophet fully achieved its objectives in spreading world peace while the United Nations’ declaration failed to establish an international umbrella-body which would ensure justice for the oppressed in real terms. The Grand Imam took the cause of the Prophet’s success to be a result of his sincerity in his claim to spreading peace, justice and equality between people. He was not working for only the Arab or only the Muslim, excluding all others, rather he repeated in the duration of his sermon the appeal, ‘let the one who is present inform the one who is absent’. Many a time he emphasised to his companions that the umbrella of peace and security would soon spread around the world in a short span of time. As for the members of international organisations, which have taken it upon themselves to spread peace, they have not been honest in their proclamations but have been discriminatory between the East and the West. They have discriminated in the rights for peace and protection between the Western world as opposed to everyone else. If that is not the case then tell us, why is there no fighting on American soil nor in European nations whilst the scars of war are specifically found in the East, in Africa and in Muslim countries in particular? We know with certainty that the Western armament factories continue to spew out weaponry for even though it is prohibited for this weaponry to be used in the West itself. Where else, then, is it being used? And upon whom is it being used, if not the East and its people?
Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb further emphasised that the greatest problem with the philosophy of peace is that it is garbed in the rhetoric of international politics and has abandoned all principles of morality and established limits. There is a difference between the divine understanding of peace – as a basis of progress, prosperity and well-being – and the understanding of peace according to human temperaments which are sometimes volatile, sometimes conflicting and sometimes unjust altogether.
Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb pointed out that the importance of peace in Islam is not only for humans, but also for animals, plants and inanimate objects as well. He mentioned that the necessity of peace for humans in Islam derives from the fact that Islam regulates rights and duties among all people. The first of these rights is that of ‘difference’ since Allah created people different. “And had your Lord so wished, he would have made mankind into one community, but they will not cease to dispute.” [Hud:118] If ‘difference’ is a divine will amongst mankind then it is irreversible and so differing parties must acknowledge this and their relationships must be of mutual understanding and cooperation based on righteousness and piety, as dictated by Islam. Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb recommended the adoption of this policy of ‘mutual recognition’ as outlined by the Qur’an. “Oh people! We have created you from a male and female and have made you into nations and tribes so you may recognise one another [have mutual recognition]. Indeed the most noble of you in the presence of Allah are the most God-fearing. Allah is all-knowing, all-aware.” [Hujurat:13]
Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb said that today, not tomorrow, is the day to act and promote peace in the Arab and Islamic societies and so called for the forming of direct channels of communication between scholars, philosophers and the decision-making politicians of the East and the West. He called for the consolidation of peaceful values, security and brotherhood through dialogue and educational programmes for the youth so peaceful practices become their natural choices in daily life. From there he moved swiftly to call on the scholars to act with pure and sincere hearts which are not distracted by smaller issues which have caused our Islamic nation to continually lag behind.
In the end, Dr Ahmad al-Tayyeb thanked the United Arab Emirates for organising and hosting this important forum on the topic of peace and security in society, and for the revival of the true understanding of peace and its application, which have been lost for over half a century.
The Forum Communiqué
Following the two-day conference, participants at the ‘Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies’ recommended the creation of an Abu Dhabi-based Islamic council, comprising of prominent and wise scholars, and mandated to help extinguish the raging fires in Muslim countries.
The proposed body, will be named ‘Majlis Hukama’ al-Muslimin’ (Council of the Wise Muslims) with bylaws scheduled for issuance during the holy month of Ramadan. The participants also recommended holding the forum in Abu Dhabi on an annual basis. They also called for promoting the forum’s outcomes as a key contribution to the culture of peace in Islamic societies.
The final communiqué issued at the end of the forum mentioned that over 30 research papers were presented during the forum. The papers focused on the forum’s four major themes — humanistic values and coexistence, correcting misconceptions, fatwa in the age of upheaval, and Islam’s contribution to world peace. The forum also recommended the creation of annual awards for best studies in the topics of peace and best initiatives for promoting peace in Islamic societies. Also recommended was the issuance of an academic periodical that looks into the research in matters of peace within Islamic societies. The forum called for the formation of a team of young and well-educated Muslims to tour different parts of the world, including the hot-beds of conflicts and tension in Islamic and non-Islamic countries, to spread the message of peace and peaceful co-existence.
The forum stressed the importance of reforming the components of the Islamic societies, as well as the need to strengthen the Islamic nation’s immunity against extremism and violence, regardless of their sources and directions.
The final communiqué also stated that it was time for Islamic communities, individuals, groups, government organisations and nations to cooperate and to favour interests of humanity and of their respective countries, over their personal interests and to adopt dialogue and reasoning as the only approach for comprehensive development. It also emphasised the correlation between the environments of peace, dialogue and tolerance and the concept of reinstating responsibility of scholars in offering advice and encouraging people to do good deeds and avoid evil deeds, while distancing themselves from any political affiliations.
Forum website: http://peacems.com/
Grand Imam’s address in Arabic: http://onazhar.com/page2home2.php?pageNum_articals=0&page1=4&page2=5255
Report by
A Irfani, A Hussain and H Qaasim
WAAG UK
[ENDS]
