Participation

As occurred on Sunday with Cairo, Today we woke up to the news of new attacks in Baghdad, which have caused more than 70 fatalities. Most of the victims were women who were going to do their daily shopping. Once again, the daily lives of citizens have been tragically cut short. I offer my most heartfelt condolences to the people and the authorities of Iraq, and its Ambassador here present.

We know that in society itself — in civil society — there are moral forces and authoritative voices that rise against terrorism and violent extremism, and we must identify those voices. Besides having leaders and credible and authoritative voices, it is important to integrate the groups and communities that undertstand the problems and wish to contribute their proposals: young people, women, students and civil society organizations.

We must support women, respect their capabilities and include them in all efforts to achieve justice among peoples. We must not discriminate and we must respect the particularities of all societies. 

The Al Azhar Islamic Research Academy has worked to combat the ideology of these organizations that practice violence and killing and threaten peace in societies. It has demonstrated the relationship of these groups to the Khawarij, who emerged in the early history of Islam owing to a deviation in their theology, which led to the takfiri ideology.