Ibn Bayyah reviews the progress of the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum at the Rabat International Book Fair
Rabat, 6 May / WAM / His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah, Chairman of the Emirates Council for Sharia Fatwa and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum, confirmed that the Rabat International Book Fair represents an important event in which speech meets responsibility, and in which culture advances its best message of enlightening minds and purifying souls, pointing out that the book remains one of the most important bridges for building awareness, correcting concepts, and consolidating the values of peace and understanding among peoples.
In a scientific lecture during the activities of the thirty-first session of the International Publishing and Book Fair in Rabat, His Excellency reviewed the progress of the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum during its first decade.
He explained that the forum sought to transfer the call for peace from appeal to construction, from meaning to impact, and from idea to sustainable project.
He said that peace is not only a generous moral position, but an industry that requires a vision to nurture it, science to establish it, documents that preserve its meanings, institutions that carry it, partnerships that disseminate it, and knowledge content that reaches generations.
He stressed that the crises and conflicts that the world has witnessed confirm the importance of the message that the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum has promoted since its founding, explaining that the absence of stability leaves a heavy cost on lives, nations, and the image of religion, when its texts are taken away from their purposes and used in inappropriate places and for the guidance and reform they brought to them.
The scholar Bin Bayyah called for transforming the experiences of the past and present into energy for building the future, and for making memory a source of wisdom, not fuel for disputes.
His Excellency discussed the legal and intellectual foundations of the jurisprudence of peace, stressing that peace in the Islamic vision is reconciliation between people, the glorification of God’s sanctities, the preservation of souls, and a container for the possibility of justice and rights. He explained that the jurisprudence of peace is a jurisprudence of texts, purposes, and outcomes, which provides for the preservation of lives, the preservation of sanctities, and the prevention of great evils, and makes reconciliation a rational path to redress grievances and protect societies from strife and division.
He recalled the forum’s major milestones, most notably the Marrakesh Declaration of 2016, which inspired the Medina newspaper as an early model of a rational social contract that recognizes diversity and establishes inclusive citizenship, and the new Pact of the Curiosity Alliance of 2019, which revived the meaning of an Arab experience exalted by the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, based on supporting the oppressed and upholding virtues, then the Abu Dhabi Declaration of Inclusive Citizenship for 2021, which affirmed the concept of citizenship. Based on equality, human dignity, and mutual respect, and viewing diversity as a source of enrichment, not conflict.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah referred to the Mohammed bin Zayed Encyclopedia of Peace in Islam project, which is expected to see the light soon, as an academic project that aims to present Islam’s vision of peace and liberate concepts that have been distorted from its purposes, stressing that correcting concepts is a scientific work that has an impact on preserving blood and protecting awareness.
His Excellency praised the vision established by the founding leader Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God have mercy on him, when he made the union a carpet for development, brotherhood a path to stability, and the human being the goal of every policy. He stressed the continuation of this vision under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, in an approach that combines authenticity and openness, between peace and justice, and between protecting values and building the future, stressing that the UAE has established an existing distinguished model. On moderation, tolerance and inclusive citizenship.
His Excellency praised the depth of the fraternal ties between the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Morocco, and the land of knowledge and ancient spiritual ties that Morocco represents, stressing that attendance at the Rabat International Book Fair renews faith in the role of the word in building bridges, enhancing wisdom, and opening broader horizons for peace and decent living.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah concluded his lecture by emphasizing that peace is not the end of the road, but rather the road itself, and that the peace project is a never-ending responsibility as long as societies need what preserves their cohesion, preserves human dignity within them, and guides them to a broader horizon of security, tranquility, and decent living.
- For more: Follow Khaleejion 24 Arabic, Khaleejion 24 English, Khaleejion 24 Live, and for social media follow us on Facebook and Twitter
