11:23 p.m
Monday, January 23, 2023
Books – Mahmoud Mustafa Abu Talib:
His Eminence, the Grand Imam, Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Sheikh of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, received Antonio Tajani, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, at the headquarters of the sheikhdom, to discuss ways to enhance cooperation and religious and cultural dialogue between East and West.
His Eminence, the Grand Imam, welcomed the Italian Foreign Minister and his accompanying delegation to Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, expressing his appreciation for the Italian Minister’s keenness to visit Al-Azhar, and that he retains personal memories from the first meeting that brought them together in Florence, during the East-West Dialogue Conference, through which it seemed to His Eminence that Mr. Antonio has a wise political and diplomatic voice that recognizes the voice of religion and morals.
The Sheikh of Al-Azhar stressed that dialogue is the lifeline for humanity to get out of its contemporary crises, and that any vision of dialogue that is not based on religious and moral values cannot be beneficial. The return to religion is the capital and the safe way out of these tribulations, and the peoples lost their bet when they heard the bright promises that bet only on material progress and excluded religion, so the struggle of matter brought them more strife, crises and wars, so the world today is in dire need of the voice of religion alongside scientific progress. And for this voice to have serious political and diplomatic support.
He reviewed Al-Azhar’s efforts in the field of dialogue between followers of religions, which resulted in strengthening cooperation and concerted efforts between religious institutions around the world. Pope of the Catholic Church, stressing that we still need to do a lot to extinguish the fires of wars and conflicts that are propagated in the name of religion and claim the lives of millions of the poor, needy, children and women.
The Sheikh of Al-Azhar pointed out that the West’s response to the call for dialogue with the East has something rather than a little slow and sluggish, including the insistence of some countries to support and support some behaviors that impede dialogue between followers of religions, and the devotion of huge funds and campaigns and an unprecedented cultural invasion to continue the colonial policy that the East has tasted bitterness. In the past two centuries, His Eminence expressed his desire to convene a conference of Islamic scholars and churchmen to find solutions to these behaviors and to agree on criminalizing insulting all the sanctities and symbols of religions and respecting the cultures of peoples.
For his part, the Italian Foreign Minister expressed his happiness and keenness to meet the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, listen to his words and get acquainted closely with his vision of spreading world peace, stressing that the Sheikh of Al-Azhar is a wise figure who enjoys global acceptance and has an effective role and an audible voice in the world, especially in the Middle East region that needs To peace and stability.
The Italian Foreign Minister expressed his appreciation for the proposal of His Eminence the Great Imam to convene a conference of religious scholars to discuss the offensive behavior of the symbols and sanctities of religions, stressing that dialogue is the path to peace, and dialogue between followers of religions is important for everyone to live in peace and security, and that everyone must make efforts to promote dialogue, and get rid of Prejudices related to Islam, which have caused an increase in Islamophobia recently, referring to Italy’s keenness to create cadres of Italian imams, to understand the nature of Italian society and its psychological and social aspects, and to provide it with moderate thought.
