On the International Day of Living Together in Peace, the Muslim Council of Elders Affirms: Coexistence, Peacebuilding, Ending Wars and Conflicts, and Rejecting Hate Speech and Fanaticism Are Essential Pillars for the Progress and Prosperity of Nations
The Muslim Council of Elders, chaired by His Eminence Prof. Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, emphasized the urgent need to strengthen international efforts to promote the values of coexistence, tolerance, and peace. It called for an end to the wars and conflicts afflicting the world today and urged the adoption of a clear, united strategy to combat hate speech, violence, and Islamophobia—core challenges that must be addressed to ensure the progress and prosperity of nations and societies.
In a statement issued on the occasion of the International Day of Living Together in Peace, the Council affirmed that the teachings of Islam call for respect for others and the preservation of human dignity, regardless of race, color, or religion. God Almighty says: “O humanity! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may [get to] know one another” [Qur’an, 49: 13]. Promoting peace, the Council noted, is a deeply rooted Islamic principle—established as a foundational ethic of the Muslim Ummah and intimately tied to the spiritual and social fabric of Islamic life.
The Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Elders, His Excellency Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam, stressed that the world today is in dire need of prioritizing reason, dialogue, tolerance, coexistence, and peace in the face of escalating wars, growing polarization, and the alarming rise in hate speech, fanaticism, and Islamophobia. He stated that on the International Day of Living Together in Peace, we must reaffirm our collective commitment to justice, coexistence, equality, and respect for diversity, recognizing human dignity as the cornerstone of all development and progress. Peace, he said, is the best and only path to building a promising future for the coming generations—one marked by dignity, stability, and free from sectarian, racial, or cultural divisions.
Since its inception, the Muslim Council of Elders has played a pivotal role in advancing the values of tolerance, fraternity, and mutual understanding among people of different faiths and cultures. The Council has launched impactful initiatives and led global conversations—most notably the East–West dialogues, culminating in the historic signing of the Document on Human Fraternity in Abu Dhabi in 2019 by His Eminence Prof. Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, and the late Pope Francis, Former Pontiff of the Catholic Church. Among its other key programs are the “Emerging Peacemakers Forum,” the “Human Fraternity Fellowship Program,” and global Peace Convoys, which have traveled the world promoting mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence. The Council has also organized numerous international conferences addressing critical issues related to global peace, coexistence, diversity, and the promotion of dialogue, peace, full citizenship, and human fraternity.