Egypt, Syria religious endowment ministers meet in Cairo 

Syria’s Awqaf (religious endowment) Minister, Mohammad Abdul-Sattar Al-Sayyed, met with his Egyptian counterpart Muhammad Mukhtar Gomaa in Cairo to discuss strengthening cooperation between the two country’s religious intuitions.

According to Syria’s SANA, Al-Sayyed was in the Egyptian capital to attend the 34th International Conference of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs on Saturday.

The theme for this year’s two-day conference was “Cyberspace and Modern Means of Religious Discourse.” Also present were other Awqaf ministers and heads of religious bodies from heads of religious bodies from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Palestine, Mauritania, Russia, Nigeria, Albania and other Arab and Muslim-majority countries.

During the conference, the Syrian minister emphasised the importance of benefiting from modern technologies in order to counter extremist groups from dominating social media platforms.

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At the sidelines of the conference, Al-Sayyed and Gomaa discussed enhancing cooperation between the two religious institutions in Syria and Egypt and exchanging experiences, especially in the field of developing religious discourse, Islamic education and interpretation of the Holy Quran.

The pair also highlighted the role of endowments ministries in the Arab world and underscored the necessity of cooperation and coordination among them.

Since Syria’s return to the Arab League in May, several Arab states have re-established and upgraded diplomatic relations with Damascus, including Egypt which hosted Syria’s Foreign Minister Faisal Al-Miqdad in April to discuss resuming relations. The visit was the top diplomat’s “first in more than 10 years” since the country was expelled from the Arab League in 2011 over its crackdown of pro-democracy uprisings.

In February of this year, during his visit to the Cairo International Book Fair, Al-Sayyed said that Syria and Egypt have historically been the main pillars for moderation and combating terrorist ideology in the name of Islam.

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