Ashraf AboArafe
AETOS Wire – The UAE hosted the 4th Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies during 11-13 December 2017, under the Patronage of HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Under the theme ‘Global Peace and the Fear of Islam: Countering the Spread of Extremism’, the ground-breaking event founded by H.E Shaykh Abdallah Bin Bayyah, President of the Forum, was held at St. Regis Hotel, Abu Dhabi Corniche, and attended by high-level officials and an elite group of scholars, intellectuals and religious leaders of different faiths.
The Forum discussed four main topics namely; Religion, Identity and World Peace; Islam and the World; Islam and the World: Ways to Rapprochement and Solidarity; and Fear of Islam: Causes and Contexts.
The opening session included keynote speeches by H.E Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance; H.E Dr. Mohammed bin Abdul Karim Al Issa, Secretary General of the Muslim World League; Dr. Ahmed Tawfiq, Moroccan Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs; H.E Dr. Abbas Shoman, Deputy of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif;Dr. Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, Indonesian Minister of Islamic Affairs; HE Dr. Sardar Mohammad Yusuf, Minister for Religious Affairs in Pakistan; H.E Adama Dieng, UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide; and H.E Dr. Dr. Mohammed Matar Al Kaabi, the Forum’s Secretary General, Chairman of the General Authority for Islamic Affairs and Endowments.
The opening session’s key highlight was the joint cooperation agreement announced between the United Nations, represented by Undersecretary-General Adama Dieng, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, to organize ten research workshops to promote religious education in the Islamic world.
Day one sessions tackled the ‘International Climate for World Peace’, moderated by Mohammed Al Hammadi, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Ittihad Newspaper, and ‘Religion, Identity and Violence’, moderated by Dr. Abdulla Matouq Matouq, CEO of the International Islamic Charitable Organization.
Topics of the second day included ‘An Islamic Vision for World Peace’, moderated by H.E Dr. Mohammed Mokhtar Juma, Egypt’s Awqaf Minister; ‘Islam and the World: Ways to Rapprochement and Solidarity’, by H.E Faisal Bin Abdulrahman Bin Muaammar, Secretary-General, (KAICIID); and ‘Fear of Islam: Causes and Contexts’, by Dr. Mohamed Senoussi, member of the Board of Trustees of the Forum.
A gala dinner was organized on the second day to honor the Egyptian Family House organization, winner of the Imam Al Hassan bin Ali Award 2017, presented to Dr. Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq, Secretary General of the organization; and His Eminence Anba Ermia, General Bishop and head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center, Assistant Secretary General.
Eight workshops took place on the third day and discussed several themes, such as ‘Today’s Islamophobia’;Fear of Islam: From a Western Perspective;and ‘Jihad, from Fighting to an interconnection effort’; to name a few.
H.E Shaykh bin Bayyah and H.E Dr. Al Kaabi attended the final session, during which the Final Communiqué was announced.
