Seeking to build strategic partnership relations with scientific and research institutions and centers active in the field of protecting and nurturing the family institution in modern societies, and desiring to enable these institutions and centers to make the most of the resolutions and recommendations of the Academy that include effective solutions to many of the problems of contemporary life and its emerging issues, His Excellency Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), and Her Excellency Ms. Sharon Slater, President of the Family Watch International in Arizona, USA, signed a memorandum of cooperation between the two institutions, on Tuesday 26 Jumada Al-Awwal 1444H corresponding to 20 December 2022G at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Academy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

This agreement aims to build a strategic partnership based on strengthening cooperation and coordination between the two institutions in order to highlight the important and central role of the family institution in building and cohesion of society, and to provide effective solutions to the challenges facing the family institution, as well as work to coordinate efforts and positions against the various attempts that seek to eliminate the values and principles called for by religions and beliefs in order to preserve the family system, and the necessary interests agreed upon by all the divine religions, especially the preservation of offspring, and presentation through eternal traditional institutions, such as the institution of marriage and the institution of inheritance, through the organization of scientific programs and activities aiming to enhance the awareness of societies of the importance of family values and the necessity of consolidating them for future generations. The agreement also aims for the cooperation of the two institutions in the joint organization of conferences and seminars, the establishment of workshops and training, the exchange of publications and periodicals, and the representation of the two parties in the work of conferences and seminars held by each of them in the field of common interest between them.

After signing the memorandum, His Excellency the Secretary General of the Academy expressed his great pride and pleasure at the completion of this important agreement for the two parties, praising the important role played by the FWI organization on the international scene through United Nations institutions and bodies in spreading awareness of the importance of the family institution, and the need to preserve it, in order to ensure the survival of the human species through reproduction, which is one of the purposes of the Shariah, namely the purpose of preserving the offspring, which is achieved by preserving the rest of the purposes of the soul, religion, mind and money, as none of these purposes can be preserved if the offspring are not preserved from the outset. His Excellency explained that any violation or manipulation of the concept of marriage, which means that sacred natural contract between a man and a woman, leads to the gradual eradication of the human race, and the obvious ensuing destruction and ruin. His Excellency added that the issued many decisions and recommendations in which it indicated the importance and necessity of preserving the family institution and caring for the rights of women, children and the elderly, and rejecting all attempts aimed at undermining or harming the family institution in general and the institution of marriage in particular. His Excellency concluded by expressing the Academy’s aspiration to achieve all the goals stipulated in this agreement in the coming days.

For her part, Her Excellency the President of FWI expressed her sincere thanks and appreciation to His Excellency the Secretary General for the kind reception and warm welcome, and she also expressed her great pleasure at the completion of this perfect agreement with the Academy, which is considered the first Fiqh reference in the Muslim world. She added that FWI, since its establishment at the end of the nineties, has sought to protect and nurture the family institution in accordance with what all divine laws called for, and the subsequent practical plans and field programs to protect our societies from dissolution and erosion. Her Excellency also stressed that major international partnerships, such as the partnership of FWI with the Academy, would strongly support joint international efforts to protect the family, women and children, by spreading awareness of the importance of family values and the integrity of all components of its institution on a wide international scale and the use of religious institutions of various divine religions to throw their weight to adopt these noble values and defend them for the sake of our future.

The signing ceremony was attended by Mr. Greg Slater, Advisor to the President of FWI for Legal Affairs, Ms. Jenni Updike, Executive Assistant to the President of FWI, Dr. Abdul Qaher Qamar, Director of the Studies and Research Department at the Academy, Ms. Sarah Amjad Hussein, Director of the Women and Family Affairs Department at the Academy, Dr. Alhagi Manta Drammeh, Head of the International Cooperation and External Relations Division at the Academy, and Mr. Mourad TLiLi, Advisor to His Excellency the Secretary General for Media Affairs.

It should be noted that the Family Watch International organization works to protect and promote the family as the basic unit of society at the international, national and local levels through education, family advocacy, and family humanitarian aid. FWI believes that this can be achieved by working to preserve and strengthen traditional marriage, protect the rights of parents, defend human life, support religious freedom, and protect the health and innocence of children.