‘Protecting minorities is a collective duty’
Interfaith meeting urges inclusive citizenship across region to build trust
Protecting religious minorities in the region is a collective duty and the religious majority has an important role in it, according to a prominent Islamic scholar.
“The crises facing the Middle East have fallen heavily on religious minorities, but harm to minorities harms the majority also. Addressing this challenge is a duty of our time,” said Shaikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah, President of the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies and Chairman of the Fatwa Council of the UAE.
“Peace is the primary goal of our actions, as without peace no other virtue can be secured,” he said yesterday here while opening a meeting of 50 Muslim, Christian and other religious scholars and policymakers from 11 countries to discuss how to promote ‘inclusive citizenship’ in the region.
Bin Bayyah said the Marrakesh Declaration, acclaimed by 250 Islamic scholars in 2016, laid the spiritual and intellectual ground for this endeavour. “These dialogues will build on that effort and seek the establishment of its principles in law. We don’t want a world in which only Muslims feel safe. We want a world in which everyone feels safe,” he said.
The meeting aimed to develop a common interfaith understanding and definition of inclusive citizenship in the Middle East as well as exploring how to implement it to tackle exclusion and discrimination and address the root causes of violent extremism.
Continuing dialogue
The organisers said two further dialogues on the theme will be held next year to enable the delivery of legislative and practical change to promote inclusive citizenship across the region. The dialogues are hosted by Wilton Park, an Executive Agency of the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, based in Abu Dhabi; in partnership with The Rashad Centre for Cultural Governance of Adyan Foundation, based in Lebanon.
Lord Tarek Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said: “As Minister for Human Rights in the UK government and Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief, I’m committed to defending the freedom of religion or belief for everyone, everywhere.”
Rev Dr Fadi Daou, President of Adyan Foundation, said: “To overcome the destructive impact of Daesh on the region, we need a new framework for living together in Arab societies. We believe that the future of these societies depends on their capacity to implement inclusive citizenship that helps in rebuilding trust and social cohesion.”