Promoting Peaceful Coexistence and Common Citizenship

[ 20 ] our Excellencies, Your Eminences, Your Holi- nesses — may peace and God’s blessings be upon you. It is a pleasure and an honour for me to express my gratitude and thanks to KAICIID for the organization of this very important con- ference, which will discuss one of the most important issues in our time: promoting peaceful coexistence and common citizenship. I’d like to thank KAICIID for its everlasting efforts in building peaceful coexistence and for supporting dialogue between different nations and different peoples around the world, regardless of their religion. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the second largest organization after the UN, contributes to, and participates in projects to foster dialogue between peoples and religions. The OIC supports such projects regardless of their political or eco- nomic basis and without obstruction from the media. The decision to establish this Religious Leaders’ Platform parallels the ambition of the conferences created by the OIC and those of other Islamic organizations. Some institutions within the OIC also work on education, for instance the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), because we believe that religion can nurture a fraternity for building respect and mutual understanding. We have another institution, Sawt Al-Hikma (Voice of Wisdom), working to change strong preconceptions, reject stigmatization, and encourage peoples and cultures to speak to each other and understand one another, because there is one principle — that the divine religions were given to people to make them happy not to let them suffer. HE Dr. Yousef Bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen Y It is for this reason, that we need to preserve our values in order to prevent the distortion of our humanity, and the eradication of human rights. Humankind will no longer enjoy prosperity or stability unless we all celebrate and pre- serve justice and shared values. As for religious or cultural differences, they are minor, despite the fact that each of us has his or her own religious beliefs, which we need to accept and understand. In conclusion, I would like to highlight the high impor- tance of interreligious and intercultural dialogue in order to combat extremism, fanaticism, bigotry and alienation. The only winner in those cases will also be the final loser. We must understand that the only task should be to work decently and honestly, as disclosed by the divine teachings which guarantee the prosperity and happiness of the people who abide by them. We should promote these values in the culture and civilization of all nations, which will prevent us from falling back into conflict, Throughout history, religions, as a whole, have been inno- cent of any persecutions and wars that were falsely led in the name of religion. Instead, the parties responsible for those acts of violence are the individuals or groups who directly committed the acts.That is why our world needs to be further enlightened about justice, as much as it is already enlightened and advanced at the technological level. The international community, under the umbrella of theUnitedNations, should be aware of the importance of educating others about justice and should implement meaningful, effective initiatives. As advanced as our human intelligence is, we still suffer frommany problems. This is why it is critical that we under- stand the real essence of humanity that is, according to our Lord, not to engage in violence against one another. For this purpose, we need to accept and respect each other’s freedoms. We need to wisely protect our diverse ethnici- ties, knowing that they are a rich source of our cooperation, rather than a reason for exclusion. If we do this, we will be very close to achieving happi- ness for all humankind, including those who increasingly suffer despite our advances in technology and science, as well as the existence and work of the United Nations. Finally, I would like to point out that by using only 10 per cent of our resources, we would be able to achieve peace worldwide. If we understand these principles, we can more effectively use soft power to combat those ideologies which are serv- ing non-human values and guarantee the freedom of belief. Finally, I would like to thank the organizers and thank all the distinguished assembly for their kind attention. May the peace of God be upon you. — INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE FOR PEACE —