Ladies and Gentlemen, Your َExcellencies.
I open with the Islamic greeting: As-Salamu Alaikum,
which means: “Peace be upon you.”
Good afternoon.
Many thanks to the Community of Sant’Egidio for holding this important international peace meeting.
It is indeed gratifying to note that the Al-Khoei Institute has worked together with the Community of Sant’Egidio for many years and our work together has been in the interest of our societies, peace and reconciliation between religious leaders, including the three Shia-Catholic meetings we organised in the Vatican and Najaf.
The result of this work was the historic visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to Iraq in March 2021 and the meeting with the Grand Ayatollah in Najaf, Imam Sistani.
All religions call for peace, and it is the same divine message of God, the prophets and messengers, and Islam specifically made its greeting, As-Salamu Alaikum, “Peace be upon you”, and in the five daily prayers we say this three times:
(Peace be upon us and on the servants of God, and may God’s peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you).
As a result, the phrase “Peace be upon you” is recited by Muslims around the world, billions of times every day. Peace is part of our identity, self, religion and culture. It is our slogan.
It follows that, since peace is philosophically a psychological category and modality, it cannot be fragmented, because it functions as a synergy. Logically-speaking, peace cannot be applied for some people whilst excluding others. Either you believe in peace for everyone, or you do not believe in peace at all.
The seminary in Najaf, the Hawza, and the religious authority, the Marja’iyya, has always based its work on this humane, ethical and religious approach.
We always communicate, meet and coordinate with religious leaders, whether Christian, Yazidi or Sabian Mandaean, as well as within Islam, with Arab and Kurdish religious scholars from various sects. We also work closely with academics, professors and the youth who are our hope for the future. They have been involved with us in all our activities and meetings.
One of the results of this work was the publishing of an introductory booklet defining the religions and sects in Iraq written by officials of those religions and sects.
Ever since the modern nation state of Iraq was established, religion has been defined by the state, but for the first time, the various sects and religions have defined for themselves how they want to be defined.
I am optimistic about the cooperation between religious leaders, which has reached levels unprecedented in history. Religious institutions and leaders play a very important role in promoting civil peace and community cohesion.
Our problem is not with religions or religious leaders but rather the problem is with politicians who abuse religion as a tool for their conflicts with each other.
Another problem is the conflict we see between some Western values that contradict common human instinct on one hand, and all monotheistic religions on the other.
We believe in freedom that respects human dignity and respects the value of women, not making them a commercial commodity to be bought and sold with modern titles that are no different from the slavery we witnessed in the past.
Freedom does not mean lawlessness in the jungle, nor does it mean the distortion of human, moral and religious values.
Freedom does not mean encroaching on the freedom of others, or desecrating the sacred symbols of hundreds of millions of people.
Nor does freedom mean erasing the individualities of others or preventing them from practicing their rituals.
That is why we strongly reject the practice of some European countries who prevent Muslim women from wearing the hijab in their passports, documents and schools, in the name of freedom.
We also strongly condemn the burning of the Holy Quran and all sacred books, in the name of freedom.
We are sick and tired of the contradictions and double standards we see. Burning some flags is considered a hate crime but burning the Quran or Bible is freedom of expression? Why?
We strongly reject the imposition and coercion of children and society with abnormal values that contradict common sense and religion in the name of freedom.
We are seriously and genuinely worried about the future of European and Western society as it confronts these suspicious and questionable ideologies, which affect peace between religions and between East and West.
Today, we mark the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks which claimed the lives of thousands. Let us remember where radical fanaticism can lead.
We should all be working harder together to prevent more terrorists in the future from committing crimes in the name of religion, and wars in the name of freedom.
Ladies and gentlemen, interfaith dialogue does not mean giving up our beliefs or merging them with one another, nor does it mean erasing our identities by fading them with each other. It follows that such dialogue does not mean creating a new, consensual religion; as some are falsely, accusing us of doing.
Our vision is clear, based on the words of God Almighty in the Holy Quran (You have your religion and I have mine), our interfaith work is based on preserving our beautiful diversity and promoting pluralism, not fundamentalism.
Thank you for your attentive listening, and I will end with the same words I started with: Assalamu Alaikum. Peace be upon you.