Islamophobia, migration: Issues discussed by Muslim elders of East and West at Al-Azhar

Rabab el-Hakim

Al-Azhar University and the Council of Muslim Elders organize a conference entitled “Islam and the West: Diversity and Integrity” at the Al-Azhar Library, October 22-24, in the presence of international personalities, religious leaders, political leaders and intellectuals from the East and the West.

The conference will revolve around several topics in eight sessions over the course of three days, in the presence of the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and Chairman of the Council of Muslim Elders Sheikh Ahmed Al Tayeb, Dr. Shawki Allam, Mufti of the Republic, Dr. Mohieldin Afifi, Secretary General of Al Azhar Islamic Research Center, General of the former League of Arab States, and Dr. Mohamed Al-Sammak, Secretary-General of the National Islamic Christian Committee for Dialogue in Lebanon.

The most important issues discussed are the development of the relationship between Islam and the West, nationalism and popularity, the status of religion, demography, ideology, migration and the future, points of agreement and differences between Western civilizations and Islam, according to the Cairo International Conference Center.

Dr. Osama Nabil, a professor at the Faculty of Languages ​​and Translation at Al-Azhar University, said: “The main objective of this conference is to try to understand the role of Islam in the West and to study the issues that the Muslims of the West suffer from.”

Nabil added that the conference aims at correcting distorted image of Islam by deviant groups about the true religion, breaking the walls of the concept of Islamophobia and hatred towards minorities, especially as it has increased recently, stressing that the conference addresses many issues which Muslims suffer, especially in the West.

“The agreement on the return of dialogue sessions between religions, Arab and Western countries will be one of the consequences of eliminating violence against minorities,” said Dr. Abbas Shoman, the former Al-Azhar under-secretary, who said that Al-Azhar is keen on strengthening relations between Islamic and Western countries.

For his part, Dr. Mukhtar al-Ghabashi, political analyst and vice president of the Arab Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said that “Al-Azhar is keen on continuing the ongoing relations between Islamic and Western countries to address the problems faced by people, especially Muslims of the West and minorities.”

Al-Ghobashi praised the meetings held by the leaders and intellectuals of the world, which continue on a regular basis, because they work to bring the views of the two sides closer, to correct the image of religions and to avoid hiding tension among their people, especially in countries suffering from terrorism.