Promoting Peaceful Coexistence and Common Citizenship

[ 31 ] — RELIGIOUS LEADERS’ PLATFORM — ear brothers and sisters. I will not give a lec- ture or present you with academic research. I will shorten my words on the one subject that I think is very important. This is the essence of the great experience that has swept through the Middle East, the lessons we have learnt from it, and the future goals we are looking for. I will identify these in the following points: First: extremism in the name of religion has not just fallen on us, like burningmeteors fall from space. It was locally pro- duced.Therefore, ignoring it does not eliminate it, disregarding it does not kill it, and diminishing its importance, does not mean that it is unimportant. The danger of it is devastating. Second: extremism is like cancerous tumour, malignant and spreading. If we do not uproot it from the beginning, it will become increasingly ruthless, brutal and widespread. It is a deadly epidemic, if you do not kill it, it will kill you. Third: not everyone who claims to fight extremism is sin- cere. Extremism is exploited and employed in some projects and schemes that appear to be legitimate. Extremism is like wildfire, easy to start and quick to spread. Fourth: extremism is not found in the building of mosques. Rather, extremism is destructive to mosques and to the peaceful believers who worship within them. Fifth: extremism strives for the annihilation of the Other. However, the Other is not just someone from another reli- gion, but might also be someone from the same religion. Extremism leaves us no choice other than to eliminate heter- odoxy. Allah Almighty created us all different. We wanted to be different, and the Almighty alone governs us on the Day of Resurrection, while we are still different. This means that freedom of conscience is guaranteed in Islam, together with freedom of faith, and believers adhere to these freedoms by HE Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian D various initiatives and good intentions, these values must be included in educational curricula and adopted by each family as well as entire societies, including governmental and civil institutions. We must never forget that we are fully responsible for securing a bright and hopeful future for the coming generations who have no share in the blame for the conflicts and wars that have occurred in the past. It is our responsibility to create the opportunity to build a safe, peaceful, and stable future for new generations. I sincerely pray to God that He grants you success in completing your work so that it may contribute toward fos- tering trust among the people. I also pray that your work will be a translation of a serious and refined dialogue based on religious plurality and cultural diversity — a dialogue that merges word and deeds. God the Almighty is our helper and the One who grants success. Thank you for your kind attention. May God’s peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you We realise that the triumph of evil needs no more than people to stand idly by, to be indifferent to what is happening HE Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian Grand Mufti of Lebanon Sheikh Derian has been the Grand Mufti of Lebanon since 2014. As spiritual leader of Lebanese Muslims, the Grand Mufti holds the highest religious post for a Sunni Islamic scholar in Lebanon. Derian received his religious studies at the Azhar University in Lebanon. He then earned two degrees in Islamic religion and Sharia from the Islamic University at Medina in Saudi Arabia before going on to continue his graduate studies.