Religious leaders are not merely keepers of sacred texts - Sheikh Al-Issa at Astana Congress
At the 8th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana, Secretary General of the Muslim World League Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa urged stronger interfaith cooperation and joint action to safeguard peace and human dignity, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Opening his remarks, Sheikh Al-Issa highlighted the significance of the gathering in Kazakhstan.
“Today we are gathered at the 8th Congress of the Leaders of the World and Traditional Religions, on the land of Kazakhstan, a country of diversity and coexistence and peace. We have met at the eve of the turbulences throughout the world, and unfortunately many tragedies and challenges have augmented during these times,” he said.
The Secretary General stressed the need for religious institutions to move beyond preaching.
“Religious institutions do not only deal with preachers, but they aim at taking actions in order to gain peace by directing their followers, taking their spiritual foundation to understand and recognize human dignity based on universal principles. The principles that we believe in are not slogans or declarations or calls that we voice at various events. This is our heritage that we need to implement through our actions and words,” he said.
He pointed to the destructive nature of ongoing conflicts.
“In order to gain peace throughout the world, we need to recognize that the conflict that is taking place today leads to nothing but evil. Human diversity has to be the source of our cooperation and exchange, not the reason for conflicts between nations,” he said.
Sheikh Al-Issa also addressed the situation in Gaza.
“Things happening in Gaza Strip, mass genocide and systematic famine, controlled famine, in human understanding, that is a huge disgrace for world community and this is what our world has not faced since the UN Charter has been declared,” he said.
He underscored the responsibility of religious leaders.
“They are not merely the keepers of the sacred texts, but they are the witnesses of the truth, and they should try to transform efforts into actions. If values are not implemented into actions, they cannot be called values,” he said.
Earlier, Kazinform News Agency reported that Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized the importance of preserving interfaith, interethnic tolerance and mutual respect.