MUSLIM UMMAH’S STRENGTH IS IN ITS UNITY: OIC CHIEF AT ARAB SUMMIT
Sharm al-Sheikh, 11 Jumadil Akhir 1436/31 March 2015 (MINA) – Secretary General of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Iyad Ameen Madani emphasized that strength of the entire Islamic Ummah lies in its unity and cohesion. Addressing the Arab Summit, he said that sectarian discord and extremism are the major challenges facing the Muslim Ummah.
Madani said that extremism is completely alien to the creed, laws and objectives of Islam. It is also a result of outside infiltration for the sake of political agendas that aim to divide in order to rule and to weaken in order to survive, IINA NEWS quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
On Palestine, he said “ OIC is standing by our brothers in occupied Palestine as they confront the occupation by the apartheid regime. Effort is ongoing to hold an extraordinary Islamic summit on Palestine and what has befallen our people there, including the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque; the dead-end to which more than 20 years of negotiations have reached and a return to negotiation on the basis of the Arab peace initiative and Palestine’s demands for specific and time-bound agenda,” he said while calling to break the monopoly of the sole mediator, which is more like a party than a mediator, to a wider mediation represented by the Quartet under a new leadership.
He said that the OIC is also working hard and effectively to address the issues in Somalia, the African Sahel, northern Mali and Central African Republic.
“OIC is also working earnestly for the rights of our brothers in Myanmar, Kashmir and Nagorno Karabakh in Azerbaijan. It is in support of the Arab League’s role in Syria and Libya and pushing towards unity of rank in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has declared unequivocally its support for the steps taken by the states supporting constitutional legitimacy in Yemen.
Madani said: As the OIC is active in confronting crises by analyzing, understanding and dismantling them, we also work in the fields of the economy, education, cultural activity, scientific and technical integration, women empowerment and pay attention to the youth.
We stand with the marginalized people and are open to the civil society on the basis of a strong strategy that strengthens the spirit of hope and confidence in a promising future, by God’s grace.
In this we generously and confidently partner with the rest of the nations to shape the future of the world in terms of economy, technology and productivity and to achieve progress and scientific innovations.
The Arab world and the Islamic Ummah, with their culture, civilization, rich diversity and history of coexistence, tolerance and openness and youth are by the grace of God capable to rise, build and work in partnership, not only to live and survive, but also to set a civilizational model, a rights narrative and a cultural action and to build a society that will add strength and vitality to the future of humanity, he pointed out.
“With your leadership, foresight, unity and strong positions, we would not need to look to others for our future. Rather we can build it with our own hands, throughout the land serving God, working, producing and building with the help of Allan the almighty,” he added.(T/R05/R03)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
