GENEVA: Abdullah Al-Turki, secretary-general of the Muslim World League (MWL), on Thursday announced his organization’s readiness to participate in conferences and forums organized by any other institution to promote interfaith dialogue initiated by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
“This initiative has now become a global one and we don’t want to monopolize the organization of interfaith conferences,” Al-Turki told reporters at the conclusion of the two-day international interfaith conference in Geneva. He indicated that the next conference would be held in Southeast Asia next year.
Asked whether the MWL has plans to hold it in India in the light of proposals made by some delegates and India being home of major religions and 200 million Muslims, Al-Turki said: “We have received proposals to hold an interfaith conference in India. We’ll study these proposals in order to take appropriate action.”
The Geneva conference urged the MWL to convene a world conference on the “Mission of the International Media in Promoting Interfaith Dialogue,” and Al-Turki said media organizations from all over the world would be invited to the conference. “We have not yet decided the time and place of this conference,” he added.
Answering another question on the criteria adopted by the MWL in selecting participants, he said: “We have invited those who support the initiative for the benefit of humanity.”
He stressed that King Abdullah’s initiative was not aimed at making any political gains, and thanked the Swiss government for its support to the conference.
The conference affirmed its support for the establishment of an international dialogue center that would pursue the king’s historic initiative. It also supported the formation of a Global Islamic Commission involving major organizations concerned with dialogue. The final communiqué said the participants would appreciate the inclusion of more women and youths in future dialogue forums. They also called for greater cooperation between faith communities in fighting poverty, ignorance, diseases and disasters.
The conference urged international media to spread the culture of dialogue and prevent the culture of violence, stopping publication of violent art productions. It also rejected racial discrimination and racial superiority. “Differences in human beings and diversity of ethnicities and religions are realities permitted by God,” it added.
