In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

The Speech of Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb
Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders

Delivered at
The Global Conference on Human Fraternity

Abu Dhabi, UAE

In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

Dear brother and friend, HH Pope Francis, Pope of the Catholic Church,

Dear brother, HE Sheikh Muhammad Bin Zayed and HE Sheikh Muhammad bin Rashid and their brothers, the leaders of the United Arab Emirates,

May God's Mercy, Peace and Blessings be all yours!

I would like to begin by thanking the United Arab Emirates, the leadership and the people, so much for hosting this historic meeting that brings together religious leaders, scholars, churchmen, politicians, intellectuals, writers and media figures. This global constellation is meeting today in the good land of the "Abu Dhabi" to witness, along with the entire world, the declaration of the "Human Fraternity Document". The Document calls for the dissemination of a culture of peace and respect for others as well as the well-being of all humankind against a culture of hatred, injustice, violence and bloodshed. It also urges world leaders and policy makers, and all those in power, for immediate intervention to stop bloodshed and loss of innocent lives. It also calls on them for an immediate end to conflicts, and futile wars that are about to plunge us into a miserable cultural decline that portends the outbreak of a third world war.

Dear attendees,

I belong to a generation that could be labeled as war-ridden in the full sense of fear, terror and suffering conveyed by the word. In the wake of WWII, I still remember people talking about the atrocities of the war and its consequent devastation and destruction. Then, I was almost ten years old when we [in Egypt] were struck by the Tripartite Aggression in October 1956 CE. Then, I witnessed aircrafts bombing my hometown, Luxor, followed by sleepless pitch-black nights. I still remember how, late at night, we would rush to shelters for protection. The memory still keeps those painful moments that persist despite the passing of more than 60 years. Ten years after the Aggression, the war that broke out in 1967 CE was harsher and fiercer than its previous one. Similarly, we underwent all its tragedies and witnessed the so-called 'war economy' during the subsequent six years, only to breathe a sigh of relief with the 1973 liberation war that restored dignity to all the Arabs. It revived their inherited pride and glory, replenished their ability to conquer injustice and its proponents, and blunted the power of aggression and aggressors. We then thought that we had paid farewell to the era of wars and commenced an era of peace, safety and production. Yet, things swiftly changed when we faced a new wave of a malicious war called "terrorism", starting in the 1990s. This one has escalated today to haunt the world, east and west.

We hoped that the third millennium would commence an abatement of the waves of violence, terrorism and the killing of innocent men, women and children. However, we got disappointed for the third time when we were struck by the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. Due to a crime committed by very few persons, around 1.5 billion Muslims have paid dear for it. This was negatively exploited in tempting international media to represent Islam in the image of a blood-thirsty religion and portray the Muslims as savage barbarians who constitute an eminent threat to civilizations and civilized communities. Such guided media has succeeded in instilling fear from Islam and the Muslims in the hearts of Western people who were struck by panic, not only from the terrorists or extremists, but also from whatever is Islamic.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Human Fraternity Document declared today on this good land is the fruit of a generous meeting hosted by my brother and dear friend Francis in his blessed house. A young man attending the meeting then proposed the idea, which was welcomed and approved by His Holiness, and which I personally fostered and sustained. It ensued from several discussions in which we contemplated the conditions of the world, the miseries of the poor, the wretched, the widows, the orphans, the oppressed, the displaced, the saboteurs as well as those who corrupt in the land. We also pondered on what the divine religions can offer as a lifeline for these unfortunate people. I was impressed to find the concerns of His Holiness and mine perfectly identical. We both have strongly sensed our responsibilities for which God will hold us accountable in the Hereafter. My dear friend is a compassionate person who feels for the tragedies of all people without distinction, discrimination or reservation.

Hence, the key point that we have both acknowledged was that all divine religions have nothing to do whatsoever with armed groups and movements recently marked as terrorist. This is the case regardless of the terrorist's faiths, creeds, ideologies, victims or the lands where they exercise their abominable crimes. Those are cutthroat murderers and transgressors against God and his Messages. So, people in charge in the East and the West should undertake their duty in earnestly tracking and encountering all those transgressors and in protecting people's lives, faiths and places of worship from such transgression.

We have also acknowledged that religions unanimously agree on the inviolability of human blood and that God forbids killing, as Moses proclaimed in the Ten Commandments at Mount Horeb in Sinai: "Thou shalt not kill; Thou shalt not commit adultery; Thou shalt not steal".[1] This was also proclaimed by Jesus from the top of Galilee Mounts, near Kafr Nahom in Palestine, in his precious moral treasure known as The Sermon on the Mount. The Messiah underlined Moses' Commandments and added to them, as he said, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment … and anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell."[2]

The Seal Prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him) then came to declare to humankind from the top of Arafat Mount in his last sermon, known as the Farewell Sermon, the same commandments proclaimed by his two fellow Prophets before him. He thus added, "O people! Lend me an attentive ear, for I know not whether after this year I shall ever be amongst you again. May God show mercy to whoever listens to what I am saying very carefully and memorizes it … O people! Just as you regard this month, this day, and this city, all as sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust. Remember that you will indeed meet your Lord, and that He will indeed reckon your deeds … Let those present pass on my words to those who are absent". He (pbuh) would also say that whoever separates a woman from her infant would be separated from his beloved persons on the Day of Judgment … and the angels curse whoever points an iron rod at his fellow human, even if that be his full brother. These are only a few examples along with several Qur'anic verses that forbid murder, stating that whoever kills a human being it would be as if he had killed the entire humanity.

You may note uniformity in the Divine Address, in terms of form and content, and even in terms of the platforms from which it was declared by those noble Prophets, that is At-Tour Mount in Sinai, Egypt, Galilee Mounts in Palestine, and Arafat Mount in Makkah, in the Arab Peninsula.

Hence, it is evident that the allegations that religions are the key couriers and motives of wars, as recorded in history, are false. These allegations justified modern civilization's rebellion against religion and its morals. Based on this fallacy that spread like wildfire, religion has been isolated from the affairs of the communities, especially in the West. It was also the reason behind the spread of calls for atheism, materialist philosophies, chaos, nihilism, and boundless freedom, as well as replacement of religion with empirical science. Despite the passing of more than three centuries since this rebellion against God and divine religions took place, the outcome was by all accounts disastrous, represented in the undeniable tragedy of the contemporary man.

In fact, the key reason behind the contemporary man's crisis is the absence of conscientiousness and religious morality, and the prevalence of atheist and materialist desires and wretched, sterile philosophies that distracted man and flouted God and those who believe in Him. They even flouted the sublime and transcendent values that constitute the sole criterion regulating man's lusts and taming his wolfish desires.

Again religions have nothing to do with the wars waged in their name, which entailed the killing of people. Rather, those who should be held accountable for them are the ones making reckless policies based on exploiting religious scholars and involving them in irreligious endeavors. We acknowledge, however, that some religious scholars incorrectly interpret religious texts. Yet, we believe that no honest and careful reading of religious texts can ever justify the claims of those misleaders who go astray and affiliate with religions or their betrayal and dishonesty in communicating religion to the people.

Ironically, this deviation that is invested in reading texts is not confined to those who trade in religions. Rather, it always occurs in political arenas, when the texts of international charters ensuring global peace are exploited in justifying the waging of wars against peaceful countries and wreaking havoc on its people. However, those transgressors, upon implementing their heinous and aggressive policies, would do no more than extending apologies for misreckoning. Examples to such cases are as clear as daylight.

That is why we drafted in this document a call for "ending the use of faiths and ideologies in fanning hatred, violence and blind bigotry, and refrainment from using the name of God in justifying the acts of killing, displacement, terror and transgression." We have also reminded the entire world that God has not created people to be killed, tortured or oppressed, and that God, Glorified and Exalted is He, is in no need for those who terrify or shed people's blood in His Name".

Dear attendees,

I am quite sure that these noble moves and initiatives towards maintaining the bond of human fraternity in our Arab region would bear fruit, knowing that the blessed Egypt has already adopted a forceful stance in this regard. A few days ago, the largest neighboring mosque and church were inaugurated in the New Administrative Capital of Egypt, in a historic move towards promoting interfaith fraternity and tolerance. It came as a pioneering step by Mr President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Still, it remains to be said our fellow Muslims in the East that they you should keep embracing their fellow Christians everywhere, for they are our partners at home countries and our fellows in faith. The Glorious Qur'an reminds us that they are closer, in terms of affection, to the believers on the grounds that "among them are priests and monks, and because they are not arrogant". (Qur'an, 5:82) So, the hearts of the Christians are full of goodness, compassion and mercy. These noble attributes are implanted in their hearts by Almighty God, and it is registered in the Qur'an, as Almighty God says, "Then We sent after them Our Messengers and followed [them] with Jesus, the son of Mary, and gave him the Gospel. We placed in the hearts of those who followed him compassion and mercy." (Qur'an, 57:27)

Do not forget that Christianity sheltered Islam when it was a nascent faith, and protected it from the tyranny of idolatry and polytheism, when Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) instructed the oppressed Muslims, the then majority of his followers, under the increasing persecution by Quraysh, to "go to Abyssinia, as its [Christian] king did not tolerate injustice." They thus went to him and he received and generously treated them, and later returned them to Medina when Islam well matured.

Another word to my fellow Christians in the East: You are part of this nation, and you are citizens, not a minority. So, please get rid of the reprehensible culture associating this term. You are citizens entitled to full rights and duties. And know that our unity is the only rock on which conspiracies targeting Muslims and Christians alike are shattered when the our unity matures.

To the Muslim citizens in the West, I say: Maintain positive integration in your communities, preserving your religious identity and respecting the laws of these communities. Know that the security of these communities is a legal responsibility and a religious trust for which you would be called to account before Almighty God. In case laws are enacted in violation of your Sharia, resort to legal ways in countering them, as these legal ways are sufficient in restoring your rights and protecting your freedom.

To the youth of the world, east and west, I say: You have the future at hand, and you should be armed with morality and knowledge. You need to take this Document as a guiding set of principles in your life. Make it a guarantee for a future free of struggles and pains. Make it a charter that dispels evil and that puts an end to hatred. Teach it to your children since it represents an extension to the Document of Medina and the Mount Sermon, as well as an extension to human commonalties and ethical principles.

Together with HH Pope Francis and all the religious leaders, we are committed, as long as we live, to do everything we can to protect the security and stability of the world communities. In this respect, I would like to hail the forum on Alliance of Religions for Community Security, held here in Abu Dhabi, in November 2018, and supported by Al-Azhar Al-Sharif and the Vatican. The forum was attended by a number of distinguished religious leaders who pledged to shoulder their responsibility in protecting the dignity of the child.

Finally, I would like to extend sincere thanks to HH Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed for sponsoring this historic initiative and for embracing the "Human Fraternity Document", which would hopefully be conducive to establishing peace among peoples, reviving feelings of love and mutual respect between all the countries of the world, east and west, north and south.

I would also like to thank HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed for his efforts in organizing and preparing for this joint historic visit. Thanks are also due to all the distinguished youth who worked hard on giving this meeting such an honorable shape.

Based on Almighty God's saying, "Do not withhold from people the things that are their due" and on the Prophet's saying, "He who does not thank the people is not thankful to God", I would like to extend my thanks to two unnamed figures who stood behind the preparation of this "Human Fraternity Document", from the very beginning and until its launching in this solemn ceremony today. These are my dear son, Judge Muhammad Abdel Salam, former legal advisor to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, and Monsignor Yoannis Gaid, Personal Secretary to HH Pope Francis. Our sincere thanks and appreciation go to them both, and to all those who contributed to the success of this meeting.

Thanks for your kind attention.

May God's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be all yours!

Ahmad At-Tayyeb

Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar