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Muslim figures agree to coexistence and non-intervention in other countries’ affairs

May 30, 2019 at 10:04 am

Islamic and Arab Foreign Ministers pose for a photo for the 14th Islamic Summit in Jeddah on 30 May 2019, ahead of the Gulf, Arab and Islamic summit to be held in Mecca on 30 and 31 May 2019 [BANDAR ALDANDANI/AFP/Getty Images]

Some 1,200 Islamic figures yesterday approved a document of coexistence, anti-Islamophobia, and non-intervention in other countries’ affairs in the holy city of Makkah.

According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), “1,200 people from 139 countries representing 27 Islamic components from different doctrines and sects, led by senior Muftis, have approved the Makkah Document.”

On 27 May, the Muslim World League launched an international conference on the values ​​of moderation, which ended yesterday with the Makkah Document.

The document has been approved as an “historic constitution to establish the values ​​of coexistence among followers of religions, cultures, races, and sects in Islamic countries on the one hand, and to achieve peace and harmony among all components of the humanitarian community on the other hand,” SPA explained.

That the documents includes a clause calling on countries not to interfere in each other’s affairs will be seen as ironic considering the host nation, Saudi Arabia, and its allies, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have been playing active roles in the unrest in Yemen, Libya, Sudan and have together imposed an air, sea and land blockade on Qatar.

The document stressed that “religious and cultural diversity in human societies does not justify conflicts and clashes.” It also emphasised “the refusal to associate religion with the wrong political practices of any of its adherents.”

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