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Speech of H.E. the
Secretary-General of the organization of the Islamic conference
at the
meeting of eminent Shiite and Sunna scholars in Iraq
MECCA
AL-MUKARRAMAH—KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA
27-28 RAMADAN 1427H
(19-20 OCTOBER
2006)
Bismillahi
Arrahmani Arrahim,
In the Name
of God, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful
Excellencies and
Eminences,
Honorable Guests
and Participants,
Assalamu Alaikum
Warhmatullah Wabarakatuh,
May God's Peace
and Grace Be Upon You,
"If two
parties among the believers fall into a quarrel, then make ye peace
between them”. Truth Are the Words of God.
Today is one of God’s blessed, historic days. It is a day when
eminent, benevolent Muslim scholars have strived to reach an agreement
to stem the bloodshed of people in Iraq, stop the killing of innocent
Iraqis, and end the suffering of our Iraqi brethren.
We
offer our thanks and prayers to Almighty God, Praise and Glory be to
Him, that He has made this auspicious meeting possible on this sacred
soil and graced our mission with success. That is why, in the
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), conscious of our
responsibility toward God, the Muslim Ummah and history, we decided to
deploy a determined effort to stem the tide of sedition in Iraq before
it spirals out of control by initiating an act purely dedicated to
Almighty God and motivated by the quest for His grace and blessing of
our endeavors to seek the prosperity of Iraq and the Iraqi people and
by the same token the prosperity of the whole Muslim world - for
sedition is worse than killing - seeking to stem the bloodshed and to
annihilate and uproot the causes of religious and sectarian
confrontation. That we did by the grace of God, recalling the appeal
made by our Prophet (May God’s Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him) as he
addressed the Ummah on the occasion of his farewell Pilgrimage—not far
from this spot—when he said:
“O People!
Shedding your blood and spoiling your property are proscribed and
forbidden until you meet your Maker, just as this day is sacrosanct
and just as this month is revered. You shall meet your Maker and We
shall hold you to account on your deeds. So have I conveyed His
message.”
As
one of the root-causes of the security destabilization in Iraq is the
propagation of erroneous ideas about our faith, particularly by
hereticating, or otherwise casting as infidel Muslims who have
professed their faith bearing witness that there is no God but God and
that Mohamed is His Prophet, it has become abundantly clear that
religious scholars are the most eminently qualified to refute and put
to rest these allegations. They are in the ideal position to admonish
those who have been deceived, on the consequences of their actions and
thus bring them to refrain and desist from them. Moreover, Muslim
scholars themselves are duty-bound before God and man to articulate
and reaffirm this admonition.
We
offer our thanks to God that our uninterrupted endeavors at the OIC in
this direction have achieved their objectives and that our
brothers—including senior Muslim religious authorities and
scholars—have been able to meet at the International Islamic Fiqh
Academy of the OIC and agree on the text of a document which spells
out, for the benefit of all Muslims in Iraq, the facts about the
rulings of Shari’a on the bloodshed and the perpetration of sin and
acts of disobedience of God hiding behind the name of religion. This
endeavor and this document have been accepted and endorsed by senior
scholars from different religious schools and politicians in Iraq and
elsewhere. Today, at this blessed hour and day, on this immaculate
soil, this august gathering of eminent Muslim scholars and
jurisprudential authorities are determined to put an end to the
bloodshed, the killing of innocent human beings, the spreading of evil
and wickedness on the earth, the terrorization of the innocent, and
filling Iraq with scores of thousands of orphans, widows, and women
dispossessed of their children or husbands. They are also determined
to protect their faith from desecration, blasphemy, or violation of
its sacrosanct principles and commandments; to make an official
announcement to defend our magnanimous religion against any attempts
to distort it or pervert its course, to stand up to the misperceptions
about Islam around the world.
Today, this august
assembly of prominent scholars have met to sign and endorse the
document that has won their consensus, each moved by his own faith and
religious authority, so as to issue a clear statement and express
proclamation to all Muslims on the position of Shari’a vis-à-vis the
gruesome wickedness and hideous sins being perpetrated in Iraq.
Therefore, I must
congratulate all the people of Iraq and the peoples of the whole
Muslim Ummah on this historic achievement, which will—God
willing—succeed in stemming the bloodshed and restoring peace,
security, and safety. I should particularly like to make a special
mention of the distinguished scholars who have helped and assisted us
in drawing up this invaluable document.
If,
by the Grace of God, we have been able to proclaim this historic
document on this blessed night, it is now high time for us to go to
work on translating it into concrete reality. At the same time, it
behooves us to start disseminating this document as of this moment. It
is our hope that the religious authorities and scholars will
contribute considerably in this initiative by doing their part in
mosques, houses of worship, and elsewhere. Governmental and private,
printed and visual mass media, radio stations, and TV satellite
channels, schools and universities, and other media should ensure
greater coverage of this document so as to make sure it reaches all
recipients throughout Iraq and even throughout the Muslim world. Thus,
every Muslim will be able to face and recognize his responsibility and
to be held to account before God and man, before the people of his
country, and for the sake of his future on earth as well as in the
hereafter vis-à-vis the abomination of killing a human being in direct
violation of God’s proscriptions and of spreading wickedness and evils
on the earth in disgraceful disobedience of the word of God and His
Prophet.
From this sanctified platform, let me appeal to the scholars of the
Muslim world to make this document the subject of their research,
discussions, and speeches until it sinks deep into the hearts and
minds of all Muslims. Let me appeal to them also to show no hesitation
in publicly and formally coming out in condemnation, stigmatization
and disowning of all these acts whoever their perpetrators may be. The
Muslim public should show their full cooperation toward this end as
this is the guaranteed way of coming out of the vortex of fratricides,
retaliations, and reprisals.
In
conclusion, let me offer my prayers to Almighty God, Praise and Glory
be to Him, to grace our efforts with His assistance to move forward
from mere words to actual deeds, because that is the mission and the
responsibility entrusted to all of us before God and the Muslim Ummah.
In order to acquit ourselves of this momentous responsibility, we will
have to exert all humanly possible efforts to succeed, hoping to help
the Iraqi people concentrate on the recovery of their sovereignty, to
reconstruct their country and launch the journey of development and
progress in an atmosphere of security, peace, tranquility and Islamic
brotherhood. For Almighty God says:
“And say
work: Soon God will see your deeds, and (so will) His Messenger and
the believers”. Truth Are the Words of Allah.
Thank you for your
attention.
Wassalamu
Alaikum Warhmatullah Wabarakatuh.
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