British Islamic Centre lauds Kuwait’s support
OXFORD: The Director of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS), Dr Farhan Ahmad Nizami hailed yesterday the importance of the generous donation and support of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the government and the people of Kuwait to OCIS. In an interview, Dr Nizami said this donation of 10 million pounds and the continued encouragement of Kuwait “has always been very crucial for the life of the Centre from the very beginning of its creation in 1985.” HH the Amir made this great gesture of financial support to the Centre three years ago to help its valuable work in encouraging the study of Islam and providing “a meeting point between the Islamic world and the West,” he recalled.
The Heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, is the Patron of the Centre. The Prince of Wales has highlighted on several occasions that “the mission of OCIS is of great importance in our increasingly interdependent world.”
Former Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign minister Sheikh Dr Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem AlSabah is a member of OCIS Board of Trustees. This year’s annual Board of Trustees meeting will be held later in the summer to review its activities and future plans.
But the Board held a meeting recently in Turkey hosted by the Turkish President Abdullah Gul. Sheikh Dr Mohammad Al-Sabah was present at that meeting. Dr Nizami was speaking to KUNA as the process of finishing the new building of the Centre was progressing apace. “The new building is situated at the heart of the city of Oxford, and at its heart there is the library, known as the Kuwait library, which has been supported by Kuwait,” he remarked.
For any academic institution, the library is at the heart of its work, and that has been made possible by the generosity of Kuwait, the OCIS Director noted. “As we are near the completion of the new building in the next seven to eight months time, we hope there will be greater exchange of scholars, and also that the teaching at the Centre will enhance the life of Oxford University in general,” he said. —KUNA