Praise be to God, with whose grace good deeds are accomplished, and the most perfect and complete prayers and peace be upon the one who was sent as a mercy to the worlds, the Prophet Muhammad, upon his pure family, and his companions, and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgment, and after:

The International Islamic Fiqh Academy emanating from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as the supreme jurisprudential reference for the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Muslim communities in the world, is pleased to highly commend and very much welcome the adoption by the United Nations Human Rights Council at its fifty-third (53) session of a resolution on religious hatred which means incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence against religions; where the resolution urged the disclosure of opposition to advocacy of religious hatred, identifying the motives and manifestations of that hatred, prosecuting its perpetrators in accordance with the laws, and proposing measures aimed at combating religious hatred, the resolution also encouraged states to adopt national laws and policies to prevent and combat acts of religious hatred and advocate for it.

The General Secretariat of the Academy, while highly appreciating this momentous and important international decision at this critical stage in the history of the turbulent relationship between the followers of religions and beliefs as a result of the distortion of the extremists, the misinterpretation of the ignorant, and the plagiarism of the false, it reaffirms the importance and necessity of intensifying, uniting and integrating the scientific, intellectual, cultural, social and political efforts of the wise men, scholars, thinkers, decision makers and public opinion makers all over the world, in order to promote and spread the culture of dialogue, tolerance, coexistence, acceptance of the differences, respect for religions and religious symbols, and the protection of public freedoms and human rights, in a way that does not lead to insulting religions or desecration of their sanctities, and the renunciation of all forms of violence, extremism, intolerance and terrorism; it also takes advantage of this blessed opportunity to extend its abundant thanks and appreciation to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for its distinguished coordination of the issuance of this important decision, and extends its thanks and gratitude to all OIC member states, friendly countries and international organizations and associations that supported this responsible historic decision in the United Nations Human Rights Council. It expresses its great gratitude and great reverence to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for submitting this draft resolution to the Council on behalf of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Also it expresses special mention and profound praise to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Current chairman of the Islamic Summit of the OIC and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the OIC, for the initiative of this resolution after the urgent meeting of the Executive Committee, which it called for, and from that meeting an important statement was issued, in addition to that, for the great pivotal role that it played with Islamic and friendly countries and organizations that love peace, harmony, civilized communication, and constructive dialogue between followers of religions and beliefs to support this decision.

The General Secretariat of the Academy also takes advantage of this happy occasion to call on states, organizations, and institutions to implement its Resolution No. 166 (18/4) issued by the Council of the Academy at its eighteenth session in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on the 29th of Jumada al-Akhirah 1428 corresponding to the 14th of July 2007, because it contains constructive suggestions aimed at combating this phenomenon.

In conclusion, we ask God, the Almighty, to reward the leaders of the OIC member states on our behalf and behalf of the Ummah for their support of this historic resolution, and to reward all those who love peace, security and security in the world for their support of it.

And Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.

H.E. Prof. Dr Koutoub Moustapha SANO

Secretary General of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, OIC