Islamic summit to tackle challenges

JEDDAH — King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has called for an extraordinary summit of Muslim leaders to be held next month in Makkah, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) Sunday.

King Abdullah has called for “an extraordinary Islamic solidarity meeting to ensure... unity during this delicate time as the Muslim world faces dangers of fragmentation and sedition,” SPA quoted Prince Saud as saying.

King Abdullah wishes to convene the summit on Ramadan 26-27 (Aug. 14-15) in a bid at “unifying the ranks” of Muslims, the statement said.

In 2005, the holy city hosted the third extraordinary Islamic summit, which approved a 10-year action plan for the overall development of Islamic states. It called for political participation, equality, freedom and social justice for people in Islamic countries. The two-day extraordinary summit called for preparing a roadmap for common Islamic action to confront the massive challenges being faced by Muslims in political, economic, cultural and scientific fields.

King Abdullah, the host of the high-profile summit, termed it a turning point in the history of the Muslim world.

In preparation for the summit, which was held under the auspices of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), three panels of experts had examined the problems in detail.

One panel looked at political and media issues, another looked at economics, science and technology, while the third panel considered Islamic thought, culture and education. Among the many things in its reports, the political panel said it could see no conflict between Islamic and contemporary universal values. “The message of Islam is a role model for all people to establish the values of equality, justice, peace and brotherhood,” it said.

Islamic concepts of good governance are “compatible with democracy, equality, freedom, social justice, transparency, accountability, anti-corruption and the respect for human rights”.

The panel on Islamic thought attacked “reckless fatwas by people who were not qualified to speak in the name of Islam” and stressed the need “to establish a moderate Islamic discourse which is bound to time, place and circumstances. — Agencies