“The Call of the People of the Qibla” at a Seminar by the Muslim Council of Elders at the Cairo International Book Fair
The pavilion of the Muslim Council of Elders held its twelfth cultural seminar at the 57th edition of the Cairo International Book Fair, under the title: “Al Azhar and Islamic Dialogue: Requirements for Responding to the Call of the People of the Qibla.”
The seminar featured Professor Dr. Nazir Mohamed Ayyad, Grand Mufti of Egypt, and Dr. Samir Boudinar, Director of the Hikma Center for Peace Research. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Mohamed Mahmoud Shaaban, a faculty member at Al Azhar University.
At the beginning of the seminar, Professor Dr. Nazir Mohamed Ayyad emphasized that uniting the Islamic Ummah is neither an intellectual luxury nor a secondary matter. He noted that the world today is undergoing rapid transformations and complex challenges, which place greater responsibility on institutions concerned with dialogue. He explained that achieving unity depends on several key mechanisms, including objective engagement with the texts of revelation, confronting deviant fatwas, correcting misconceptions, and promoting a culture of understanding and dialogue among different schools of thought and intellectual trends.
The Grand Mufti of Egypt also highlighted that scholars of Islamic civilization presented pioneering models of sound interpretation of religious texts, contributing to healing divisions and uniting the Ummah. He cited Imam Abu al Hasan al Ashari, founder of the Ashari school, who, upon his death, advised one of his students:
“Bear witness that I do not declare any of the People of the Qibla disbelievers, for all point to one God, and all differences are merely differences in expression.”
He further noted that the “Call of the People of the Qibla” represents a comprehensive, consensus based initiative involving scholars, thinkers, and muftis from across the Islamic world, aimed at confronting sectarian strife and shared challenges and reuniting the Ummah. He stressed the importance of academic institutions studying the document in depth to strengthen Islamic unity and address the causes of division.
For his part, Dr. Samir Boudinar explained that the “Call of the People of the Qibla” is not merely a text or statement, but a profound vision rooted in Islamic heritage, particularly the Ashari theological tradition to which the majority of Muslim scholars belong, based on the principle of not declaring any of the People of the Qibla as disbelievers. He emphasized the need to re establish unity through reviving Ashari intellectual heritage, along with integrating religious and human sciences to achieve the document’s objectives.
Boudinar added that the initiative seeks to open horizons of dialogue among people to remove misconceptions and dispel distorted stereotypes, warning that the absence of dialogue could leave the Ummah vulnerable to those who seek to exploit its divisions.
He also pointed out that history teaches that the Ummah has often been targeted through division and fragmentation, while its moments of strength and victory were tied to unity, knowledge, and awareness of divine laws. Unity, he affirmed, has always been and will remain the source of the Ummah’s strength.
It is worth noting that the “Call of the People of the Qibla” is one of the key outcomes of the first edition of the Intra Islamic Dialogue Conference, hosted by the Kingdom of Bahrain in February 2025 under the gracious patronage of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and attended by His Eminence Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders, with the participation of more than 400 scholars and religious leaders from across the Islamic world.
The Muslim Council of Elders is participating with a dedicated pavilion at the 57th Cairo International Book Fair, running from 21 January to 3 February 2026. The pavilion features a wide range of the Council’s publications, in addition to organizing numerous seminars, activities, and events focused on promoting values of goodness, love, peace, and coexistence among all people.
The Muslim Council of Elders’ pavilion is located next to the Al Azhar pavilion in Heritage Hall No. 4 at the Egypt International Exhibition and Convention Center in New Cairo.