by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Cairo : The 49th meeting of the Committee of Senior Arab Officials on Nuclear and other Weapons of Mass Destruction started at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo on Wednesday.
The two-day meeting will discuss a number of issues, most notably the Arab move to activate and implement “Convening a Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and other Weapons of Mass Destruction.
The meeting comes in the wake of the recent action taken by the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly on a draft resolution on “Convening a Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and other Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East”. If adopted, the UNGA would entrust the UN Secretary General with convening, no later than June 2019, a conference on establishing such a zone, to which all Middle Eastern countries will be invited.
—AB/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Grand muftis, Islamic religious leaders, from 73 countries participate in the conclusion of the fourth edition of the “Renovations of Fatwa” conference held in Cairo, Egypt, Oct. 18, 2018. EPA-EFE/Shady Roshdy
Cairo : Grand muftis, Islamic religious leaders, from 73 countries on Thursday concluded here a three-day conference aimed at moderating how religious figures discuss Islam so as to counter the effects of extremism and increase the involvement of Muslim youth in peaceful displays of their faith.
During the fourth edition of the conference, held in Cairo and focused on the issuance of “fatwa” – religious guidelines promulgated by religious leaders, participants discussed a broad spectrum of topics, including organ transplants, divorce and stem cells.
“Our main concern in this summit is to redefine fatwa and reclaim fatwa from the radicals,” Ibrahim Negm, adviser to Egyptian Grand Mufti Shawki Allam told Efe.
Touching on topics ranging from divorce and marriage practices to inheritance and scientific activities, a fatwa is released publically as a way for Muslims to live an involved and connected spiritual life in the modern world.
“Our purpose is to revisit the Muslim tradition and … the heritage (writen in) books hundreds of years ago. We want to read them afresh in the light of contemporary issues. We are living in the 21st century, we are living in a global village and this has impacted how fatwas are issued,” Negm added.
The conference also discussed women’s rights and the use of the “niqab,” the long Muslim women’s gown and veil which completely covers the body and face.
“We emphasize the essence rather than the form … the way people dress is different from one Muslim country to another, so you have in the Gulf a certain way of dressing while in Egypt the way Muslims dress is different … (The same is the case) in Turkey. Meanwhile, in Europe Muslim (men and women dress in a different way), this is based on customs and traditions of Muslim community,” Negm stressed.
Negm announced that religious leaders will “launch an online portal that reaches young people and speaks to them in different languages”.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Cairo : The Arab League (AL) has welcomed the reconciliation deal signed in Cairo between Palestinian rival groups Fatah and Hamas.
In a statement on Thursday, the AL congratulated the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian factions and the Palestinian people for reaching the agreement that would end a decade of political rift between the two mainstream Palestinian factions, Xinhua news agency reported.
The reconciliation is the main guarantee for achieving the Palestinian goals of freedom, independence, ending the Israeli occupation and establishing an independent state within the border of 1967, according to the statement.
Earlier on Thursday, the two groups agreed on a complete handover of Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to the consensus government led by Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah by December 1.
Signed after two-day Egyptian-brokered talks, the agreement is considered as a resumption of a frozen reconciliation deal reached in the same city in 2011.
—IANS
