AMMAN — Deputizing for Prime Minister
Bisher Al-Khasawneh,
Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Mohammad Khalaileh
on Tuesday led a ceremony opening the annual World Interfaith Harmony Week,
which the ministry held in cooperation with the Chief Islamic Justice
Department, the Iftaa Department, and the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence
Research Center, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
اضافة اعلان
This year’s interfaith harmony week which was titled
“Jordan, a model for harmony among followers of sects and religions”, was held
at the Islamic Cultural Center of the King Abdullah I Mosque.
Khalaileh said in opening remarks that Islam upholds
the message of compassion for the entire humanity, which was manifest in the
Prophet Mohammad’s dealings with the followers of the monotheistic religions
and others.
Harmony week, he said, was the culmination of
pioneering work based on common denominators that provided a solid ground for
religions to come together on the basis of mutual respect.
“The four schools of thought (in Islam) were a model
for tolerance and acceptance of the others as they advocated for security,
peace, and moderation and rejected killing and destruction and the repudiation
of the others,” he said.
According to the minister, Islam looks at the right
of human beings to live in dignity and humanely.
“The call for harmony is at the core of Islamic
Sharia law and guidelines that the Muslim caliphs and imams committed to
throughout history,” he said, adding that Sharia (Islamic law) urges upholding
the principles of coexistence and tolerance and that harmony grants people of
different races and faiths the right to live in peace, safety, and security.
The Kingdom’s Grand Mufti Abdul Karim Khasawneh said
at the ceremony that Jordanian Muslims and Christians have set a model for humanity
and harmony and cultivated the value of good citizenship under the Hashemite
leadership that won the people’s loyalty as it embraced justice, equality, and
human dignity.
“The holy Quran addressed non-Muslim people of the
book and others with kind words and respect, but had not alienated them,” he
said, underlining that Islam is a religion of tolerance that accepts and
respects the others and enhances their coexistence with the Muslim community.
Father Nabil Haddad, president of the
Jordan Interfaith Coexistence Research Center, said that Jordan’s harmony model
emanates from the Hashemite leadership, which advocates that everyone in Jordan
lives in peace and security, stressing his pride in the Amman Message that
calls for peace and compassion.
Chief Islamic Justice Abdul Hafez Rabtah said that the
annual event, which was the fruit of His Majesty
King Abdullah’s efforts, had
become a UN and global occasion to emphasize harmony between the followers of
religions and the importance of constructive interfaith dialogue and rejecting
the ideology of extremism and bigotry.
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