Mubarak calls on Moslems to be armed for the coming century
Regional, Religion, 7/3/1998

Egypt's President Mubarak called on Moslems all over the world to be armed with all their strength and power to fulfill their responsibility toward their fate, destiny and the future of humanity in the coming century.

The Egyptian president asserted that Islam is a religion of coexistence, and noted the dangers of undermining the Islamic nation's potentials and wasting its capabilities.

He also called on them to improve their focus, since the new focus of all countries and nations will be on science and technology.

At the inauguration of the 10th public conference of the high council for Islamic affairs, in the address delivered by the Egyptian Minister of Endowments Mohammed Hamdi Zakzouk, President Mubarak urged Moslems all over the world to reexamine their stances and endeavor to achieve a proper and suitable place in their history and civilization and on the map of 21st century.

Mubarak also called on the Islamic world to put an end firmly to all that threatens its future, and to violence and terrorism that cripple and frustrate the Islamic nations' power to progress.

Moreover President Mubarak called for enabling the Palestinian nation to assume its right to its land and to establish its state on it and restore Palestinians' legitimate rights. "We are not announcing this for Palestine only but we are declaring and calling for this for the lost rights of any nation in the world," he said.

Zakzouk called for confronting the internal challenges and separation that cut across all relations in the Islamic world and obstruct all methods of cooperation between the people. He also warned against increasing illiteracy rates and spread of terrorism in some Islamic countries despite this being an international and not Islamic problem.

Then Coptic Pope Shenouda III called on the Arab states to be united, assuring that the unity of the Arab states will enable them to confront dangers, reminding them of Arab strength in the days of Salah El-Din El-Ayoubi, who liberated Jerusalem from the foreigners after 90 years of occupation.

He called on the attendance to think seriously of terrorism and violence and to express their opinions openly, he also called on the Islamic and Arab states to follow up on the conditions of the immigrants in Europe warning of their abandon to the "barbarous freedom" in the West.

Meanwhile al-Azhar Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi called on the Arab and Islamic countries to be armed by all strength and to set up forces for fighting Israel with "all that we possess."

The works of the 10th annual conference of the High Council for Islamic Affairs began yesterday under the slogan of "Islam and the 21st Century" under the leadership of Muhammad Hamdi Zakzouk, the Egyptian minister of endowments, where 50 ministers of endowments and about 1,000 intellectuals and expounders participated in the conference.

The conference will discuss throughout four days about 90 scientific researches projects tackling the Arab and Moslem issues, such as how to confront terrorism, extremism, the abuse of Islam and its image, in addition to methods of cooperation for correcting the image of Islam abroad.

The conference will also tackle one of the most important topics and challenges confronting Moslems in the coming century, globalization.

In this regard the conference will hold a session of talks on the margin of the conference in which about 15 Islamic world thinkers will participate to discuss the dangers of globalization for Islam and Moslems in different political and social fields, aiming at reaching to a comprehensive plan for confronting these dangers.

The conference will also tackle the issues of Islamic thought, the stance of Islam toward terrorism, Islam's role in enhancing international peace consultations, democracy and its reflection on the Islamic countries and economic integration as a necessity for globalization.

A number of Christians and clergy will participate in the conference to discuss global Moslem issues, at the top of which comes the issue of Palestine, its holy places and the Moslems in Kosovo. A "Cairo Declaration" will be issued at the conclusion of the conference.

Previous Stories:
  Pope John Paul II confers with al-Azhar delegation   (5/29/1998)
  Jerusalem mufti says Israel plans to demolish al-Aqsa mosque   (5/14/1998)
  International symposium discusses Islam and human rights   (4/29/1998)

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