Promoting Peaceful Coexistence and Common Citizenship

[ 48 ] — INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE FOR PEACE — at conferences about the values of dialogue and coexistence but, in their own homeland, are its supporters and a front for extremist parties and their policies. It is now imperative that government authorities assume the responsibilities entrusted to them in preserving and protecting their people, and continue to work on reform- ing the political systems and laws, applying the laws to all people with fairness, equality and decisiveness to deter criminals, despite differences in political, religious and sectarian affiliations. our ExcellencyMr. Faisal BinAbdulrahmanBin Muaammar, Representatives of Heads of State andGovernment, Your Excellencies, Virtue and Holiness, Ladies andGentlemen—at the outset, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the International DialogueCentre (KAICIID) for this generous invitation to a large number of Islamic and Christian religious leaders, and common citizenship around the world, to launch the Interreligious Platform for Dialogue and Cooperation in the Arab World, a goal that we all strive to achieve. We reject all forms of violence and extremismwith which the scourge of terrorism and extremism seeks to destabilise the social fabric, not only in our Arab region but in all parts of the world. The theme of our conference today is the Interreligious Dialogue for Peace: Promoting Peaceful Coexistence and CommonCitizenship, anobjective that we all strive to achieve. Our cultural perceptions of society — and the presentation of them— require objectivity in order to deal with diversity and differences. We must circumvent polarisation without wishing to rule or disparage other cultures. Differences in custom and heritage should be celebrated in order to avoid the racist ideas inherent in some historical or social contexts and for which there is no objective justification. An observer and follower of interfaith dialogue over half a century ago, noted that dialogue had become subject to domestic and international suspicion. This may be due to the limited results of many previous international meetings, or perhaps to the fact that the majority of the public of most religions did not believe in the usefulness of dialogue. Also, the media have played an important role in the propagation of the clashes associated with ethnic and religious groups. At a time when globalisation has sought to create uni- versal cultural, social and political patterns, it has also highlighted ethnic and religious conflict in a way that Rev. Dr. Andrea Zaki Y HE Sayed Ali El-Amine Grand Scholar His Eminence originally studied under several Grand Ayatollahs in the city of Najaf, Iraq, where he reached the senior rank of clerical accomplishment —Mujtahid. He then taught senior clerical students, both in Islamic jurisprudence (al-fiqh) and the Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence (U ūl al-fiqh) in a number of seminaries in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. He also headed the Islamic Law seminary in Beirut, and the al-Sadr seminary for Islamic Studies in Tyre, Lebanon, where he held the position of Mufti of Tyre and Jabal Amel. He is a member of theMuslimCouncil of Elders. His Eminence calls for interfaith dialogue, emphasising coexistence between Christians and Muslims and advocating Islamic solidarity and unity. He has given numerous lectures to disseminate religious consciousness and religious moderation, and rejects hate, intolerance, extremism and terrorism. He is the author of several books including: Sunni and Shiite are one Nation (al-Sunna wāl Shia ûmma wahída) ; “Wilayat al-Fakih” and the Nation State ; and A Series of Lessons in the Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence .