The conference was hosted by the office of Sayyed Ammar al-Hakim, the head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) who has recently been elected as the leader of Iraq’s National Alliance. Secretary-General of the World Assembly of Islamic Awakening Ali Akbar Velayati also attended the event and said that the meeting was held to review different issues in the Islamic world and present strategies to remove the existing hurdles and challenges.
In his speech, Sayyed al Hakim expressed deep concern over crises facing Muslims, calling for dialogue among Islamic countries to find ways to tackle them. Al Hakim, leader of the largest political bloc in Iraq’s parliament, said Muslim nations are facing “decisive challenges”, like extremism.
He further called on Islamic countries to hold dialogue on their concerns and find ways to resolve them.
Hakim also pointed to the issue of Palestine as still being the main concern of the Muslim world and one that should be brought into the spotlight.
Islamic Awakening Alive Despite Enemy Plots
Addressing the gathering, Secretary-General of the World Assembly of Islamic Awakening said despite enemy plots to thwart the awakening movement in the region, Velayati said the movement is still vibrant and moving due to popular support among the masses.
"Despite all the existing difficulties, problems and crises that have been inflicted on the Islamic governments and nations, the wave of the Islamic awakening is moving forward despite all hurdles and challenges thanks to massive popular support,” he added.
Dr. Velayati who is also a senior adviser to Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution added that people’s active presence in the war of truth against falsehood is the key and effective element in Islamic-Arab revolutions inspired by the Islamic Awakening movement in the region.
"Today the Islamic Awakening movement is clearly visible all around the region thanks to Islam; and the Islamic values and the voices against arrogant and bullying powers are the first outcome of the Islamic Awakening in the region,” he said.
The senior Iranian official touched on the history of the awakening movement that has swept the Islamic states in north of Africa and the West Asia region, including Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. He said the movement started following US policy failure in the creation of the so called ‘New Middle East’ and the occupation Afghanistan and Iraq.
He pointed out that, “five years after the start of the Islamic Awakening movement, enemies and opponents of the movement have practically failed to fulfill their divisive plots and reach their goal to contain the movement despite their efforts to organize Takfiri groups as a rival force against the Islamic Awakening movement."
Dr. Velayati also noted that the failure of ISIS and other Takfiri groups in Syria and Iraq will create great opportunities for the Islamic world and boost the people’s spirit for confronting extremist and terrorist groups. He further slammed the Saudi regime for its covert role in all crises in the region, from Syria and Iraq to those in Yemen, Libya and elsewhere. Saudi Wahhabism is using its petrodollars to sow discord in the Muslim world, he added.
The senior Iranian official called for a return to true principles and values of the holy religion of Islam as the sole way out of regional problems.
Regulations to Curb Takfirism
In his speech during the conference, speaker of Iraq’s parliament called for legal measures to eradicate ideological roots of Takfirism.
Salim al-Jabouri stressed the need for collective “preventive” measures by Muslim countries to counter attempts at linking terrorism to Islam.
Highlighting the Iraqi parliament’s efforts in the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), he pointed to a proposal calling on Islamic and international bodies to introduce regulations to fight against the ideological roots of Takfiri currents.
Al-Jabouri, who is a Sunni Muslim, accused terrorists of attempting to spread their radical ideas in the name of religion.
He called for a meeting with the participation of Iraq, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to address their disputes, saying Muslim countries must take measures to counter terrorism.
The Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, for his part, said there are countries that support terrorism for their own benefits while others are seeking to sow sectarian discord.
"ISIS did not come to existence overnight. Certain sides used to support the group," he said. Takfiri terrorists, he said, do not distinguish between Shiite and Sunni Muslims or abide by any principles, adding they are trying to sow sectarian divisions. Abadi said Iraq is capable enough to counter ISIS and terrorism, calling on the country to remain united. "We will hopefully fight and defeat the Takfiri terrorism," the prime minister added.
According to organizers, the Saturday conference in the Iraqi capital brought together 50 Sunni and Shiite Muslim scholars and intellectuals from 22 Muslim nations.
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