MAKKAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques called for the promotion of harmony among the different sects of Islam during his address at the Islamic Solidarity Summit in Makkah last night.
“From the vicinity of the House of God, the cradle of eternal Islamic message, it gives me a great pleasure to welcome you in your second country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, wishing Allah Almighty in these blessed nights to help us to tackle the affairs of our Islamic nation and probe the reasons of its weakness and differences that it is incurring and which marred its consistency and unity,” said King Abdullah in his opening remarks.
“The Islamic nation is currently living in a state of sedition and disunity that led to bloodshed of its people in this holy month in many parts of our Islamic world, ignoring God's verse that ‘Persecution is worse than slaughter,’” he said.
(Please click here to view full text of King Abdullah's speech)
“The ideal solution of all what I have mentioned will not take place except through solidarity, tolerance and moderation and also through standing side by side to face whoever tries to harm our religion and unity… Thus, we could, by God willing, preserve the history, dignity and pride of our Islamic nation at time where only the superpowers are recognized. If we observed justice, then we could conquer injustice, if we practiced moderation, then we conquer extremism and if we reject dispersion, then we could keep our unity, strength and determination,” said King Abdullah.
“I appeal to you in the name of Allah that we assume responsibility as much as possible, to become eligible to shoulder it and to observe right as per God's saying, ‘If ye will help (the cause of) Allah He will help you, and plant your feet firmly,’” he said.
“Emanating from this, I suggest hereby the establishment of a center for dialogue among Islamic sects to come to common terms, in the city of Riyadh as its headquarters and, upon recommendation by the General Secretariat and the Ministerial Council, its members be selected from within the Islamic summit conference,” said King Abdullah.
The king's proposal was received with thunderous applause from the assembled galaxy of Muslim leaders.
Earlier, King Abdullah received the Muslim leaders at his palace, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi and Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani.
In a gesture that would be interpreted as a sign of the summit’s success, King Abdullah made Ahmadinejad to sit right beside him. Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad was on the king’s other side.
There was optimism and a sense of delight among the hosts, Saudis, as well as their foreign guests.
