King Mohammed VI
said that interfaith dialogue, positive coexistence among them, understanding
and cooperation on humanitarian goals is an essential lever to spare humanity
the evils of strife, pain and suffering.
Dialogue and
coexistence
In a message
addressed on Tuesday to participants in the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on
Interfaith Dialogue... Let's cooperate for a common future," which will be
held in Marrakech from June 13 to 15, said that this will only be achieved if "we
link the words to action, and are keen to renew the concept of interreligious
dialogue, and achieve a qualitative leap in collective awareness of the
importance of dialogue and coexistence, and the dangers of continuing the logic
of closure, fanaticism and introversion."
The King also
expressed his hope that the Marrakech Conference, which "brings together
for the first time parliamentarians, as legislators and representatives of
their peoples, and a large number of religious leaders, scholars, experts and
distinguished researchers from all over the world", will provide a
rational, sober and convincing response to the tendencies of intolerance,
hatred and contempt for religions, and the treatment of people according to
their religion, sect, race or skin, adding in this regard that the diversity of
the participants' locations and political, intellectual and religious
backgrounds are a decisive factor to achieve this ambition..
In the message,
read by Talbi Alami, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the king said:
"If parliamentarians among you have the authority to approve legislation
that facilitates dialogue and prevents and discourages discourses of
introversion and intolerance, officials of religious institutions and leaders
have the function of guidance, awareness, and the implementation of their
spiritual powers, to frame and warn against slippages that plague coexistence
and fruitful dialogue between religions."
In this letter,
Mohammed VI also expressed his hope that the conference would culminate in action
plans in which "the three components you represent play decisive roles in
the realization, at the level of each country and at the international
level".
In this regard,
the King stressed the importance of establishing a mixed mechanism, coordinated
by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, which seeks to make interfaith dialogue a
lofty goal common to the components of the international community, pointing
out that this goal should be defended in international forums and considered
one of the criteria for democratic governance in parliamentary practice and one
of the indicators of respect for pluralism and cultural diversity..
Coexistence:
The Royal Message
highlighted that the consolidation of the principle of coexistence as a bulwark
against extremism and not a vehicle for it, along with respect for other
religions, requires an educational pedagogical effort undertaken by the school,
the university, the media, religious institutions and responsible public debate
spaces, expressing the hope that the document that will culminate in the work
of this conference will include practical proposals to achieve this goal..
On the other
hand, the royal message stressed that it requires mobilizing all energies that
believe in equality between religions and civilizations and among the children
of Adam, to overturn this equation, and to adopt policies that would stop this
dangerous decline in human consciousness.
The Moroccan
monarch stressed that the institutions represented by the participants in this
conference are at the heart of the noble battle for understanding, tolerance
and coexistence, through institutional, awareness and educational work,
pointing out that intolerance does not exist in religions or in religious
books, but is governed by the interests that this fanaticism hides..
The royal message
pointed out that the gloomy picture that the world is experiencing today
regarding the conflict of beliefs cannot obscure the positive and bright
aspects and bold initiatives that seek to strengthen bridges of communication,
and consolidate the values of tolerance, understanding and coexistence between
the components of the international community and between followers and
adherents of different religions..
In this message,
the King continued: "We are very happy that you, all the participants in
this forum, are part of these political elites, religious leaders,
intellectuals and intellectuals, who believe that succession on earth, as God
Almighty intended, is for acquaintance, cooperation and coexistence, within the
framework of religious and doctrinal difference, which is the responsibility
and trust of all humanity."
Moroccan
specificity:
The King also
stressed that based on Morocco's excellence in religious coexistence and
moderation, it is natural that Morocco is among the countries that have
initiated the establishment of international mechanisms for civilizational
dialogue and others to confront terrorism, extremism and extremism..
With the same determination
and determination, Morocco has contributed to the establishment of other
mechanisms, contributes to strengthening their status and roles, and hosts
their forums, such as the International Conference on the Dialogue of Cultures
and Religions and the Conference on the Rights of Religious Minorities from
Islamic Lands.
Counter-terrorism:
The King also
praised Morocco's active contribution to the establishment and structuring of
the Global Counterterrorism Forum, which the Kingdom co-chaired for three
terms, from 2015 to 2022, noting that these are voluntary policies
"dictated by our responsibilities and commitments towards the
international community in all its components".
The Moroccan
monarch expressed his pride in what has been achieved in the field of managing
the religious field in the Kingdom and in the performance of the institutions
he has ensured for this purpose, including those provided for in the
Constitution..
In this regard,
the King mentioned, in particular, the Higher Council of Ulema (SULMA), the
only body competent to issue fatwas in order to prevent any deviation or
deviation from their purposes, as well as the Muhammadiyah Association of Ulema
and the Mohammed VI Institute for the Training of Imams.
On the other
hand, the King pointed to the Kingdom's keenness to remain a model for the
state on whose land coexists, in brotherhood and safety, adherents of
monotheistic religions, in fulfillment of its ancient history of diversity and
religious and cultural pluralism..
Sultan Mohammed V
In this context,
the Moroccan monarch said that "on this land Muslims, Jews and Christians
have coexisted and coexisted for centuries," explaining that it was the
land of Morocco that received thousands of Muslims, Jews and Jews who fled
religious persecution from the Iberian Peninsula, during the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, and provided them with dignified protection..
The King noted
that modern history mentions to King Mohammed V the care and protection that
surrounded thousands of converts to Judaism, fleeing the persecution of the
Nazi-allied Vichy government. Throughout his tenure as his blessed
predecessors, King Hassan II continued the same approach of caring for Moroccan
citizens who convert to Judaism, and remained keen to consolidate the values of
coexistence and brotherhood among all Moroccans, Muslims and Jews..
King Hassan II
King Mohammed VI
said that history also records that King Hassan II took the initiative to
receive His Holiness Pope John Paul II in 1985, in his first visit to an
Islamic country, noting that "thirty-four years after this historic visit,
we received, in March 2019, His Holiness Pope Francis, Pope of the Vatican,
whom we invited to an official visit to Morocco."
The King stressed
that this visit came out of his belief in interfaith dialogue and the
importance of directing the efforts of religious authorities in the service of
peace, cooperation and human fraternity, stressing his keenness since his
accession to the throne to promote the spirit of brotherhood, coexistence,
cooperation and cohesion among Moroccans, Jews and Muslims, as one of the main
pillars of Moroccan civilization..
The king
concluded that if Islam is the religion of the state, the Kingdom's
constitution affirms that "the state guarantees everyone the freedom to
practice his religious affairs", stressing that "as the king of
Morocco and the prince of the faithful, we are entrusted with guaranteeing the
freedom to practice religious rites, and entrusted with the protection of
Moroccan Jews and Christians coming from other countries living in
Morocco."