Muslim figures stress rejection of violence, promote dialogue

CAIRO – 29 May 2019: With the participation of 1200 Muslim scholars and intellectuals from 139 countries representing 27 components of different Islamic sects, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman signed a declaration that condemns extremism, violence, ethnic conflict and stressing that civilized dialogue is the path to overcoming historical differences.

The four-day conference discusses the Islamic heritage and Fiqh (Islamic legal rulings) along with ways to enhance moderation in Muslim societies.

The Makkah Declaration called for legislation to deter people who promoted hate and instigated violence, saying such laws would weaken the causes of religious and ethnic conflict.

It further condemned attacks on places of worship, calling them criminal acts that required a strong legislative and security response. It said the extremist ideas that motivated these types of attacks needed to be challenged.



The declaration also adds that it is everyone’s duty to fight terrorism, injustice, oppression and the violation of human rights. It also urged greater environmental protection.

Saudi Arabia reiterated its call for renewing the religious discourse to mute speeches of hatred down, said Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud, the Governor of Mecca Province, in his speech at the opening session of the conference.

“Here in the Kingdom and based on our commitment to Sharia law and its moderate tilt, and out of our Islamic duties… we renew the call to cease racist and hate speech regardless of its source and pretext,” he added.



“We call on all to listen to the voice of reason and turn to tolerance and moderation and bolster agreement and reconciliation,” he continued.

“We must work on common Islamic and humanitarian values as the world today is most in need of a good example, presented by us Muslims, that can work on spreading good for all mankind,” said King Salman.

The declaration warns that Islamophobia stemmed from ignorance about the reality of Islam and that people clung to the misdeeds committed by those claiming to be Muslims and falsely attributing their acts to Islamic laws.

It recognized the principles of women’s empowerment, the rejection of their marginalization, the degradation of their dignity, the minimization of their role, and the obstruction of their opportunities in the religious, scientific, political or social fields.

In his speech at the opening session, Egyptian grand Mufti Shawky Allam called for supporting Saudi Arabia in its approach of upgrading the moderation of Islam and standing against all powers of evils that aims to undermine the Saudi kingdom.



“We strongly reject all accusations of terrorism against Islam. We also reject accusations of terrorism against other religions. I call on you to combat the dangerous disease of terrorism by all means," said President of Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov at the conference.

Scholars called for reuniting the ranks of the Islamic nation so that no one can destabilize and undermine it. This can be achieved by rejecting turmoil, encouraging moderation and equality, communicating with each other, strengthening the bonds of love between Muslims and fighting the wrong perceptions about Islam.



They also called all Muslims to study their religion properly as a religion of love, moderation and authentic values that have contributed to the spread of real Islam around the world.