Abidjan Hosts 600 Faith Leaders, Experts For Interfaith Dialogue

Abidjan-About 600 Muslim scholars, Christian clerics, and experts in interfaith dialogue are in the Ivorian capital, Abidjan to review and discuss the state of interfaith relations in Africa.

The three-day international symposium, which is themed: “the eternal message of religions”, is being jointly organized by the Superior Council of Imams, Mosques, and Islamic Affairs of Côte d’Ivoire and the King Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema.

Prominent among the objectives of King Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema is consolidation of values of tolerance, peace, and interfaith dialogue.

At the end of the symposium, which is being attended by 34-member countries of the foundation across Africa, an all-encompassing document on peace and interfaith tolerance to be known as “The Abidjan Declaration” will be announced - to serve as a “roadmap” towards implementing the recommendations to be made.

The King Mohammed Foundation of African Oulema is a grouping of African Islamic scholars established by His Majesty King Mohammed VI in 2016 aimed at uniting the efforts of these scholars around the common grounds that unite the Ummah - regardless of a few doctrinal differences among Muslims scholars on the continent. The foundation upholds the Ash’arite path of Sunnah, revives the letter to Allah Maliki school of Islamic law, and promotes the Sunni path of Sufism.

His Majesty King Mohammed VI is renowned as a champion of interfaith dialogue. Under his able leadership back in 2016, over 250 Muslim religious leaders, heads of states and scholars, global interfaith leaders met in Marrakesh and announced, “The Marrakesh Declaration”, which aims at championing the rights of religious minorities in predominantly Muslim countries.

By Alhassan Y. Al-Waiz, Modern Ghana Special Correspondent