As part of strengthening cooperation and coordination between the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and its subsidiaries, H.E. Dr. Mohammed Adam Kalbo, Director General of the Cabinet and Senior Advisor to the Secretary General of the OIC, visited the Headquarters of the General Secretariat of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA) in Jeddah on Wednesday 06 Shaaban 1443H correspondent to 09 March 2022G.

On his arrival, he was welcomed by His Excellency Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the Academy, thanking him for this first visit to the Academy since he began his duties as Director General of the Office of His Excellency the Secretary General of the OIC. He also expressed to him the gratitude of the Academy and its great appreciation for the generous care, and the continued support it receives from His Excellency the Secretary General of the OIC. In this regard, he noted the keenness of the Academy to harness all its capabilities, and all its efforts to implement the directives and initiatives of the OIC Secretary General aimed at promoting the Organization, its subsidiaries and specialized organs, and upgrading its performance towards quality assurance and perfection.

For his part, Dr. Kalbo conveyed the greetings of his Excellency the Secretary General of the OIC to His Excellency the Secretary General of the Academy, praising the qualitative developments and changes taking place in the General Secretariat of the Academy under the leadership of Prof. Sano, and confirming the support of His Excellency the Secretary General of the OIC and the General Secretariat, as the Academy is one of the most important organs of the Organization that it cherishes, and prides itself on its important role in presenting shariah moderately, promoting and spreading the approach of moderation, tolerance and coexistence within the Muslim world and beyond. He also expressed the Organization’s readiness to provide logistical support to the General Secretariat of the Academy to enable it to implement its activities, programs and sensitization projects within the Member States of the Organization, particularly in areas of internal unrest and discord, as a result of the adoption of extremist ideology and terrorism by some of the people of those areas, which requires the Academy to play a major role in correcting misconceptions about the values, principles and teachings of Islam, and combating ideas that feed intolerance, extremism and fanaticism.

On the other hand, His Excellency assured his guest that in accordance with the directives of His Excellency the Secretary General of the OIC, the Academy will soon organize a series of specialized seminars and special workshops in the Countries of the Sahel focused on promoting moderation, spreading a culture of tolerance, and coexistence, and reversing and countering the principles and discourse of extremist thought, and terrorism. This will be in cooperation and coordination with a number of leading scientific and academic institutions and centers on the African continent, such as the Union of African Scholars, the International University of Africa, and the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs of the Republic of Chad, with which the Academy will sign in the coming days a cooperation agreement and partnership.

In addition, the Secretary General briefed His Excellency on the recent arrangements of the delegation of scholars of the Academy, which will visit the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the coming days, in order to meet with the new Afghan authority to discuss a number of topics and issues of interest to Muslims in Afghanistan, particularly issues of tolerance and coexistence, gender education and the participation of Afghan women in construction and development efforts within the framework of adherence to well-known shariah decisions and teachings, noting that the delegation is fully prepared to make that visit as soon as the directive of his Excellency the Secretary General of the OIC is issued.

It is worth noting that the visit of the delegation of scholars of the Academy to Afghanistan is one of the recommendations of the last Extraordinary Meeting of Foreign Ministers of the OIC member states held in Islamabad a few months ago. Since then, the Academy has begun to reach out to several trusted and accomplished scholars of the Ummah to join the delegation.

At the end of the meeting, His Excellency accompanied his guest to visit the departments and divisions of the General Secretariat of the Academy.