His Excellency Ambassador Hussain Ibrahim Taha, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and Chairman of the Bureau’s Council, chaired on Thursday 05 Jumada II 1444H, corresponding to 29 December 2022G, the second meeting of the Bureau’s Council 2022G, via visual communication technology. His Excellency Sheikh Dr. Saleh bin Abdullah bin Hamid, Advisor at the Royal Court, member of the Council of Senior Scholars, the imam and khatib of the Grand Mosque, president of the Academy, deputy head of the Bureau’s Council, His Excellency Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), and secretary of the Bureau’s Council, participated in the meeting. The distinguished members of the Bureau’s Council also participated in the meeting, namely Sheikh Dr. Abu Bakr Doukouri, representative of the African Group, Prof. Ajeel Al-Nashmi, representative of the Arab Group, and Sheikh Taqi Al-Othmani, representative of the Asian Group. The meeting was followed by a number of cadres of the OIC and the Academy.

His Excellency the Secretary General of the OIC started the meeting by expressing his sincere thanks and great appreciation to the Excellencies and Eminences for their participation and their continuous support for the Academy, praising the great role played by the Academy in spreading the culture of moderation and tolerance, and combating extremism, fanaticism, terrorism, violence and exclusion. In this context, His Excellency called upon the Academy to quickly launch an international campaign to gather all the voices of scholars and religious authorities in the Muslim world and mobilize them against the Taliban government’s decision to suspend girls’ education at university level, pointing out the seriousness of the Taliban government’s justification for preventing girls from studying and dismissing female faculty members from their positions on the grounds that this contradicts Shariah. This claim is in fact incorrect and not based on any evidence, but rather it contradicts Shariah and its clear teachings on this subject. Therefore, this issue is considered another challenge before the Academy, in addition to the issues of minorities, the escalation of feelings of hostility towards Muslims in Western countries, and other pressing issues. His Excellency stressed, by the way, the priority of the Afghan file on the agenda of the OIC and the Academy, pointing out that the Taliban’s decision is not based on Shariah texts, and that a delegation of scholars visited Afghanistan last June and held extensive meetings with Taliban scholars and a number of members of the government, where there was agreement that Islam granted women all their rights, including the right to education and work, explaining that the Taliban’s decision to deprive girls of education deepens the fallacies that are falsely spread about Islam.

For his part, His Excellency Sheikh Dr. Saleh bin Abdullah bin Humaid, President of the Academy, expressed his thanks and appreciation to His Excellency the Secretary General of the OIC for his strong and continuous support for everything that the Academy does. He also expressed his gratitude to the members of the Bureau for their presence and active participation in the blessed march of the Academy, then praised the results and achievements achieved by the Academy under the leadership of His Excellency the Secretary General of the Academy and his assistants, indicating that what was stated in the report of the General Secretariat of the Academy presented to this meeting is considered the best witness to that.

In his speech, His Excellency the Secretary General of the Academy, Prof. Koutoub Sano, expressed his thanks and gratitude to His Excellency the Secretary General of the OIC for the support and care of the Academy, praising His Excellency’s precious confidence in the Academy and in his humble person to once again lead the Islamic efforts, by heading a new and expanded delegation of scholars of the Ummah to Afghanistan or other member states in order to dialogue and discuss with the current authority and scholars of Afghanistan on the subject of gender education and the participation of Afghan women in the process of building the nation. He expressed his confidence in the ability and competence of the Ummah’s scholars to succeed in their endeavors in order to do everything that is in the interest of the Afghan people, and also to respond to the abnormal opinions that contradict the teachings of Islam and the approach of the Prophet, may prayers and peace be upon him. Suspending and preventing the education of girls and boys is one of those abnormal views that contradict the consensus of the Ummah throughout the ages. His Excellency also touched on the Academy’s obtaining the royal approval from the host country in order to hold the 25th Session at the end of February 2023. And on this occasion, His Excellency extended his sincere thanks to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, king, government and people for the continuous support and care and for all the distinguished facilities and services which it still extends to the Academy to enable it to perform its role ably and with ease.

The meeting then discussed the items on its agenda, which included approving the minutes of the previous Bureau meeting, reviewing the arrangements for the 25th Session of the Academy, the cooperation and understanding agreements signed by the General Secretariat of the Academy with many ministries, councils and scientific institutions inside and outside the OIC states, and the administrative and financial report and arrears of contributions of member states to the budget of the Academy for the current year. At the end of the meeting, His Excellency the Secretary General of the OIC, Chairman of the Bureau, and their Excellencies and Eminences the members of the Bureau, expressed their great gratitude and appreciation for the great efforts of the Academy and its great achievements in all directions and at all levels, especially those blessed efforts made by His Excellency the Secretary General of the Academy in order to hold the 25th Annual Session with self-efforts for the first time in the history of the Academy.