Secretary-General of MWL Dr. Al-Issa witnesses signing a partnership agreement with Columbia University and launching “International Religions Laboratory”
Ashraf AboArafe
The Secretary-General (SG) of the Muslim World League (MWL), Chairman of the Association of Muslim Scholars, Sheikh Dr. Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, witnessed the signing of a partnership agreement by the Muslim World League and the launch of the “International Religions Laboratory” with the prestigious Columbia University in New York City, USA, in a large ceremony attended by university leaders, and a Cardinal The Great Cathedral of New York, Mr. Dolan, the Chief Rabbi, Mr. Arthur Schneier, and members of the US Congress.
The university held an international symposium accompanying the inauguration ceremony of Dr. Muhammad Al-Issa at its headquarters in New York on common values and methods of confronting the challenges and dangers of hate, with the participation of the President of the Great Cathedral in New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and the Chief Rabbi of the United States, Arthur Schneier, and in the presence of the university’s leaders, professors, students, and members of the US Congress.
The “International Religions Lab” aims to build capabilities against the concepts of hatred, violence and civilizational clash, and it will be a global platform for research and training in protecting societies from all forms of hate, and a center of excellence for research, leadership and training, which will enhance protection factors against all forms of hatred based on religion, race or others. It will also develop reliable training programs for teachers to deter the dangers of extremism, strengthen protection factors against global forms of hate and discriminatory violence, promote joint efforts, and support initiatives and research aimed at improving coexistence and cooperation in creating a more peaceful and cooperative world.
And d. Al-Issa, in his speech during the partnership, expressed his happiness at the prestigious Columbia University’s hosting of the laboratory project, and at the forefront of his tasks is to address all forms of hatred and racism around the world.
Al-Issa revealed the absence of many common values, which negatively affects the harmony of our world and the harmony of its diverse national societies, which are linked by a common denominator, which is their agreed-upon values.
Al-Issa explained that the International Religions Laboratory at Teachers College at Columbia University will address the dilemma of hatred, racism, and violence around the world, through multiple options, foremost of which are research and training, because this college is known as an international institution for research, training, and the manufacture of educational leaders.
Al-Issa indicated that many of the problems of our world today can be reduced to the absence of its common values that are agreed upon and gathered around, which leads to a negative situation that leads to the dangers of a person’s lack of a sense of his humanity, which leads to the absence of logic, justice and reason, indicating that the amazing material civilizational progress did not keep pace with it. Parallel progress, which is the active and tangible awareness of common human values.
Al-Issa warned that the world today is threatened with an expansion of hatred and racism, and even with the spread of false pretexts from which haters and racists emanate. Therefore, it is important to hasten to contribute to creating a world of more understanding, cooperation and peace, and national societies that are more coexistent and harmonious.
The lab will be executive managed by Dr. Amra Subach L. Rice, a Columbia University professor who has taught, researched, and published on a range of issues in education, her findings are taught in general education curricula, as well as in higher education courses across the United States, as resilience and empowerment through Education, and has received research grants from several government agencies, think tanks, and prominent international organizations.
Dr. Amra Subach L. confirmed. Rice, that hatred represents a global challenge to social cohesion and coexistence, stressing that the mechanisms adopted to combat the spread of extremism among young people still need further review and evaluation.
And she revealed that she conducted a research in 2021 that included 300 teachers from 25 US states, in which she revealed that 68% of teachers see bias from students against their Muslim colleagues in schools, while 92% of teachers see bias against Muslims from their fellow teachers, which confirms the existence of an urgent need to design programs. training, and innovative curricula that address these biases in the infancy in the classroom.
