UAE to host conference on Muslim minorities
400 LEADERS FROM 130 COUNTRIES WILL REVIEW EXPERIENCES AND CHALLENGES FACED BY MINORITIES LIVING OUTSIDE THE ISLAMIC WORLD
Abu Dhabi will host an international conference in May to discuss challenges and opportunities Muslim minorities face in the West and ways to spread the culture of peace and tolerance.
Held under the theme ‘International Conference on Muslim Minorities: Opportunities and Challenges’, the forum will identify measures on how the 500 million Muslims working and living in the West can fulfil their role as both good Muslims and good citizens to positively contribute to society.
Dr Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, chairman of the supreme committee of the conference, yesterday said the conference aims at spreading the culture of peace and tolerance between adherents of religions and cultures, and “contributing to safeguarding the children of Muslim minorities against violence and extremism and defending the rights of these religious and cultural minorities according to international conventions and treaties”.
Dr Al Nuaimi said the May 8-9 event is very important in the context of human migration and will be attended by more than 400 leaders of Muslim minorities from more than 130 countries to present their experiences and challenges.
An international conference is set to be held in Abu Dhabi in May to address challenges and opportunities of around 500 million Muslims working and living in the West.
The conference will also explore ways for them to fulfil their role as both good Muslims and good citizens and encourage positive contribution within the society, organisers said yesterday.
“The International Conference on Muslim Minorities: Opportunities and Challenges, to be held on May 8-9, aims at spreading the culture of peace and tolerance between adherents of religions and cultures, and contributing to safeguarding the children of Muslim minorities against violence and extremism and defending the rights of these religious and cultural minorities according to international conventions and treaties,” said Dr Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, chairman of the Supreme Committee of the conference.
Dr Al Nuaimi said the event is very important and has a global dimension and comes within the framework of the initiatives sponsored by the UAE that serve all humanity.
“The world now lives in the context of globalisation in many aspects and the resulting human mobility between different continents and societies,” Dr Al Nuaimi told a press conference in Abu Dhabi.
He pointed out that “each country has its own environment that is different from the other challenges faced, and some Muslim minorities went to other worlds and achieved successes, became an essential component and contributed to the development of the countries in which they live”.
At the same time, “other minorities have faced challenges, and some have not been able to effectively integrate into their new societies”, Dr Al Nuaimi explained.
The conference will bring together more than 400 leaders of Muslim minorities in more than 130 countries to review their experiences and challenges.
On the objectives of the conference, Dr Al Nuaimi said it will discuss setting a framework that will help Muslim minorities to play their active role in serving their countries and to highlight the bright image of Islam.
He said the conference is an opportunity to find an incubator to study the challenges that Muslim minorities have faced over the years in order to make a difference that serves the future generations of these minorities and highlight the successful models.
“The event is unique as it is the first time in the history of Muslim minorities to meet in a single conference to discuss their issues and interact with each other,” said Dr Mohammad Bashary, member of the Supreme Committee of the conference and secretary-general of the European Islamic Conference.