Sara Mustafa
Staff Writer

ISTANBUL: Over 60 Islamic scholars ـ both Sunni and Shiite ـ have asserted the importance of Islamic unity, noting that "all religious scholars of the Islamic nation should unify to face challenges together ".Furthermore, they noted that Muslims should build bridges of dialogue with the West in order to live together peacefully. They participated in a conference held in Istanbul organized by the World Organization of Pan Islamic Jurisprudence, a religious organization based in Kuwait, which included many prestigious religious scholars from different parts of the world.
For his part, Secretary General of the World Organization of Pan Islamic Jurisprudence (WOPI) AlـSayed Abualkasim Aldibaji noted that "Islam is ready to face all challenges," and saying that Muslims should present a model of civilized behavior.
Aldibaji added during his speech following the inauguration of the summit that in order to achieve Islamic unity Muslims should seek out new strategies for communicating with the West.
''''Muslims should start dialogues with followers of other religions in order to show the real image of Islam away from the despoiled image of terrorists and extremists," explained Aldibaji.
For his part, Hassan AlـSafar, a Saudi Shiite cleric, has assured that "we should feel proud of the large concern paid by Islam to human rights issues," noting that Islamic history is rife with examples of human rights work.
Meanwhile, Vice Chairperson of WOPI Mohammed Osayran said that the policy of globalization is actually "Americanization of the world," adding that the world is witnessing different types of social, cultural, political and economic confrontations.
''''The concept of globalization threatens the Islamic way of life since it aims at seperating policy from religion. Muslims should unify their efforts to confront such threats. The moderate concepts of Islam are able to unite all sects of Islam,'''' noted Osayran.
Finally, Shiite religious scholar Mohamed Bahir AlـOlom highlighted the role of the public in preventing a ruler from transferring into a dictator. AlـOlom said that Iraq is witnessing development in the coexistence between Sunnis and Shiites, especially following the collapse of the former Iraqi regime.
He noted that Saddam Hussein discriminated against Shiites and attributed the developments in coexistence between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq to the large number of religious scholars "who have the ability to lead the public to the right way."
He urged all religious scholars all over the Islamic world to undertake their responsibility in putting an end to sectarian differences between Muslims, especially between Sunnis and Shiites, noting that removing illusive ideas about each religious sect is the shortest way to achieving Islamic unity.

Last updated on Monday 23/3/2009