At the kind invitation of the Muslim Council of Elders Youth Peacemakers Forum, His Excellency Prof. koutoub Moustafa Sano, Secretary-General of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy and member of the Muslim Council of Elders, participated on Thursday 25 Dhu al-Hijjah 1444 AH corresponding to July 13, 2023, in Geneva, Switzerland, a lecture on the role of religions in spreading peace, as part of the activities of the second edition of the Peacemakers Forum. His Excellency began his lecture by stressing that “religions came to spread peace, love, mercy, brotherhood, justice and equality among human beings. It also came to put an end to wars, conflicts, disputes, injustice, and aggression, because all of this is contrary to the natural disposition (fitrah) that God has instilled in people, and therefore, any call to violence or hatred has nothing to do with religions, especially revealed religions from the Almighty God, such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

His Excellency also explained that religions also came to preserve freedom of belief, freedom of expression, freedom of movement, and other well-known public freedoms, stressing that all people are born free, and equal like the teeth of a comb, and that they differentiate between them only by good and beneficial deeds, the development of the universe, and the happiness of humanity. They differentiate between them only by good and beneficial deeds, by building the universe, and by the happiness of humanity. In the meantime, he explained that the burning of a copy of the Qur’an or any book or author today by some extremists is a flagrant attack on the principle of freedom of expression. This is because the Holy Qur’an contains principles, values and teachings deposited by the righteous, and his Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, ordered to spread it among people, and to leave them the choice to believe in it, or to reject it, and to hold people to the values, principles and teachings contained in that book.

The matter is like the case of those who burn a copy of a constitution or the law of a country today, or a book, both of which prevent people from seeing the values, principles and teachings of that constitution or book, and it is no secret that this is excessive, and aggressive. His Excellency concluded his lecture by calling on young people to learn about religions, and to learn about their values, teachings and principles, before judging them as a normative judgment fanatic and extremist, as it is noticeable today that extremists and terrorists hijack religions, and commit their crimes in their name, and the case is that religions are innocent of all bloodshed in their name, and from every honor that is violated in her name, and from every money that is destroyed in their name..”. He also explained the importance of believing in the principle of accepting difference as a manifestation of freedom of belief and freedom of expression, because “difference is a divine law, and a universal will, and we must employ it in the service of humanity and to spread peace, love, brotherhood, mercy. It must also be employed to fight t hatred, intolerance, discrimination, and exclusion, because it is really impossible to build a healthy and stable society without diversity and differences among its members.”.

He concluded his lecture by pointing out that the Youth Peacemakers Forum is one of the most important initiatives of the Muslim Council of Elders, believing in the Chairman of the Council, His Eminence the Grand Imam Maulana Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Sheikh of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, may God protect him, who affirms on every occasion that young people are the leaders of the future, and that they are the ones who can change the world positively, because they represent today a large percentage of 70-75% of the world’s population, because of their strong ability and will to make peace, the hope is in you after God to become messengers of peace, human fraternity, justice and equality to lead the world for the better.

Geneva, Switzerland, witnessed the activities of the second edition of the Youth Peacemakers Forum organized by the Muslim Council of Elders, in partnership with the World Council of Churches and the Rose Castle Foundation, between 6-14 July 2023, with the participation of 50 young men and women from around the world.