Qatar- Interfaith meet seeks to curb extremism
Date
2/17/2016 9:11:54 AM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
From left: Minister of Justice H E Dr Hassan Lahdan Saqr Al Mohannadi; Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran President Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue Vatican; Dr. Ahmed Ziyad Minister of Islamic Affairs (Maldives); Rabbi Prof. Reuven Firestone Hebrew Union College (US); and Aisha Yousef Al Mannai Deputy Chairman Board of Directors/DICID at the inaugural ceremony.
DOHA: Religious leaders and scholars attending the 12th Doha Interfaith Dialogue Conference which opened here yesterday called on the international community to intensify efforts to curb the growing menace of violence and extremism all over the world.
The two-day meet organised by the Doha International Center Interfaith Dialogue (DICID) under the theme “Spiritual and intellectual safety in the light of religious doctrines” has brought together about 500 delegates representing major religious communities in the world.
“A handful of people are trying to intoxicate the environment through hate speech and extremism that are the main cause of spreading terrorism. We should come forward to stop them because every religion claims it has nothing to do with such heinous crimes” Minister of Justice H E Dr Hassan Lahdan Saqr Al Mohannadi told the opening ceremony.
“Qatar is moving forward in its efforts and cooperation to consolidate values of dialogue among individuals and cultures as a cornerstone of global security and peace.”
He praised the conference’s role in spreading the message of peace tolerance and coexistence.
The forum comes at a critical time with growing extremism and violence in various parts of the world in a way that is increasingly sounding alarm of imminent danger to the international community he said calling for collective action to promote spiritual and intellectual safety and combat hate speech and extremism in all its forms.
He said defamation of religions sanctities beliefs and other cultures incites racism and fanaticism and revives tensions hatred and intolerance. These challenges can be overcome with participants’ role in correcting misconceptions and disseminating the culture of spiritual and intellectual safety in communities.
DICID Chairman Dr Ibrahim bin Saleh Al Nuaimi said Qatar is keen to promote interfaith dialogue which is an important aspect of co-existence. Disrespect of religious beliefs is one of the main challenges facing the co-existence of different faiths.
“Religious leaders have a role to play in restoring peace and stability politically and economically and maintaining security” said Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran President of the Pontifical Councilfor Interreligious Dialogue Vatican.The Peninsula