His Excellency Mr. Faris Asaad, Consul General and Special Envoy of the United States of America to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and his accompanying delegation visited the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA) on Monday, 06 Safar 1443H corresponding to September 13, 2021G. He and his accompanying delegation were welcomed by His Excellency the Secretary General of the Academy, Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, who thanked him for his visit.

His Excellency Mr. Fares Asaad expressed his deep thanks and great gratitude to His Excellency the Secretary General of the Academy for the warm welcome, stressing his great interest and keenness to make this visit to the Academy as soon as he assumed his duties as Consul General of his country.

His Excellency added that his country’s government views with appreciation the moderate and sober thought offered by the Academy and all its commendable efforts to spread moderation and peaceful coexistence between religions, and that he looks forward to more cooperation and coordination with the Academy in order to serve these noble human goals, by organizing some targeted scientific events inside and outside the United States of America.

For his part, His Excellency the Secretary General of the Academy expressed his great thanks and great appreciation to His Excellency the Consul and the delegation accompanying him, and congratulated him on his new position, wishing him success in his duties, noting that this visit indicated his keenness to get to know the Academy and consolidate the bonds of communication and cooperation with it. He also seized the opportunity to give His Excellency a brief overview of the establishment of the Academy, its objectives, programs, and activities, as well as an overview of the developments it witnessed in the recent months.

His Excellency also affirmed the Academy’s readiness to enhance awareness among Muslim communities of the importance of adhering to the requirements of citizenship in their countries, and the need to respect laws and regulations while preserving their religious identity, as there is in fact no conflict between religious affiliation and loyalty to the homeland in which the Muslim person resides. Then, His Excellency expressed the Academy’s readiness to organize scientific events inside the United States of America directed to Muslim communities that serve these ideas.

The meeting was attended from the American side by Mr. El Sayed Rizk, Political Specialist at the American Consulate in Jeddah, Ms. Shamis Mohamud, Political Officer at the American Embassy, ​​and Ms. Aliaa AlSharkawy, Senior Protocol Assistant at the American Consulate in Jeddah. And from the Academy’s Side, Ms. Sarah Amjad Hussein, Director of the Family Affairs Department, Mr. Mohammed Al-Idrissi, Director of Media and Public Relations Department, and Mr. Mourad TLiLi, Adviser to the Secretary General.