On Sunday, 18 Ramadan 1444, corresponding to 9 April 2023, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, H.E. Mr. Muhammad Al-Halbousi, received H.E. Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the Academy, at the House’s headquarters in Baghdad.

His Excellency expressed his deep thanks to the Iraqi government for its kind reception and warm welcome, as well as his utmost appreciation for the important role played by the Speaker of the House in the field of promoting national unity and reunification, through the enactment of laws and the drafting of specific legislations. His Excellency also praised the efforts of the Iraqi government in promoting the unity of the Iraqi people and fighting sectarianism.

His Excellency presented the International Islamic Fiqh Academy as the largest contemporary jurisprudential reference for the Muslim world, considering that its members are among the most eminent jurists of the Ummah, representing the eight Islamic schools of law. In this regard, His Excellency recalled that the Academy seeks to spread respect for mosques and differences, to appreciate Imams of different schools and to promote the ethics of difference and coexistence.

His Excellency concluded his speech by expressing the Academy’s thanks to the Iraqi leadership and people for their continuous support to the Academy, stressing his satisfaction at the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the International Islamic Fiqh Academy and the Iraqi Fiqh Academy.

For his part, the Chairman of the House’s Council welcomed once again His Excellency and thanked him for this first visit of its kind, praising the important role played by the Academy in promoting cooperation, communication and rapprochement between the Ummah scholars from different Islamic schools and sects. He also expressed his wish to strengthen cooperation, coordination, and partnership with the Academy in various intellectual fields of common interest, especially in the field of the importance of endowments and their role in building nations and preserving their heritage.

The President once again thanked the Secretary General and the accompanying delegation for their visit to Iraq, stressing the importance of strengthening cooperation and continuous communication, coordinating the efforts of religious institutions to serve the interests of the Ummah and spreading a culture of moderation and balance among Islamic schools and sects in order to achieve the principles of peaceful coexistence, harmony and tolerance that the Islamic religion teaches us.

The meeting was attended by H.E. Mr. Muhammad Samir Naqshbandi, Consul General and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Iraq to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah, and H.E. Dr. Abdul Wahhab Ahmed Al-Samarrai, as well as Mr. Muhammad Adnan Al-Fihri, Director of Administrative and Financial Affairs of the Academy, and Mr. Amjad Mustafa, Chief of Protocols.