General Assembly Session 63 meeting 47

The President

The Assembly will hear a statement by His Eminence Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honour to welcome to the United Nations the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, His Eminence Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, and to invite him to address the Assembly.

Grand Imam Tantawi (Egypt)

When we talk about the culture of peace in Islam, we talk about positive dialogue among civilizations, religions and cultures, and about realities about which the wise of all times and places concur.

The first reality is that all peoples are created by God, the Most Exalted, out of one substance, for the purposes of devoutly worshipping their Creator and of cooperating with each other in righteousness and piety, setting aside transgression and aggression.

In the Koran, God -- praise be to Allah -- emphasizes: "O mankind! We created you from a single pair of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other" (The Holy Koran, XLIX: 13). The Almighty also says: "Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person and from it created its mate and from them both created many men and women ..." (The Holy Koran, IV:1).

Muhammad -- peace be upon him -- says in this regard: "You all belong to Adam, and Adam is from dust ... No Arab is better than a non-Arab, except by piety".

The second reality is that difference in beliefs and ideas is human nature, that beliefs are not traded, that each individual is born with his own creed, and that there is no compulsion in religion. Compulsion will not produce true believers, but only lying hypocrites. God alone is the one who calls people to account for their beliefs.

Many verses in the Koran reflect these concepts, among which is God's saying that "There is no compulsion in religion". The Most Exalted also told his Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him: "... your duty is only to convey the message and on us is the reckoning".

The third reality is that difference in beliefs among people does not preclude their cooperation, mutual understanding, amity or exchange of benefits sanctioned by God Almighty. Human beings are civil by nature and cannot do without interaction with others.

States, also, cannot do without cooperation and interaction and exchange of interests with one another, particularly in our era, in which the world has become a global village, mainly owing to progress in transportation and communications through science and know-how.

Persistent efforts and the good offices of the United Nations General Assembly thus continue unabated to promote peace and security in the world, reducing frictions and differences among nations and preventing conflicts and hatred among peoples.

The fourth reality, as agreed by the wise, is that the divine religions revealed by God Almighty to his noble Messengers share two main cornerstones. The first is to worship God alone with devotion and the second is to maintain noble character. Any disagreement among them has to do with secondary issues, not the basic principles.

As this is the case, it follows that due respect ought to be paid to all honourable Messengers and that the guidance of religions should be pursued. Defamation of religions and assault on the honourable Messengers, therefore, do not emanate from sensibility, good nature or clear insight.

The fifth reality, as agreed by the wise, is that the Good Word works equally with friends and others. It works with friends because it adds to the amity and affability among them. God refers to His good servants by saying: "... and they are guided to goodly words and they are guided into the path of the God".

The good word also works with non-friends, as it serves to curb their anger and animosity. On this subject, God says:

"Tell my servants that they should speak that which is best; because Satan verily sows a state of conflict and disagreement among them; surely Satan is an open enemy to man." (The Holy Koran, XVII: 53)

The sixth reality, as agreed by the wise, is that since eternity there have been virtues that need to be respected and vices that need to be avoided. The wise have concurred that justice is a virtue. God instructed by saying: "... when you judge between people, you judge with justice ...".

God also instructed by saying, "... and when you speak, then be just, though be it against a relative..." God instructed in testimony saying: "... and take as witness two just persons from among you, and establish the testimony for God ..." (The Holy Koran, LXV:2).

The wise also agreed that injustice is a crime that leads to great loss in this world and in the hereafter. God demonstrates this by saying: "These are their houses in utter ruin, for they were unjust ...".

All divine religions and human minds seek the promotion of justice and the rejection of injustice, for there can be no peace or security in the world unless we exert our utmost effort to stand strong for the virtue of justice until it overwhelmingly triumphs. We also need to stand firmly against the crimes of injustice until it is totally defeated.

The seventh reality, as agreed by the wise of all times and places, is that consolidating security and peace in any State is a blessing that leads to prosperity and increased production, thereby creating happiness and ensuring more affluence and progress.

When Abraham, peace be upon him, left his wife, Hajar, and his son, Ismail, in holy Mecca, the blessed lands, he asked God: "My Lord, make it a secure town and provide its people with fruits, such of them as believe in God and the last day ...".

The wise have also agreed to reject terrorism and aggression against people and the spreading of mischief in the land through annihilation and destruction of State institutions. The wise have agreed that this kind of terrorism is a religious and worldly tragedy. It is a religious tragedy because it explicitly violates the provisions of divine laws that call for the safeguarding of human life, people's property, their dignity and all their rights from all violations, and that consider the murder of one person as unjust and bad as the slaughtering of all people.

In this respect God says:

"... whoever slays a person, unless it is for a murder or for spreading mischief in the land, it would be as if he slew all humans; and whoever saves a life, it would be as though he saved the lives of all humans ..." (The Holy Koran, V:32).

Terrorism is a worldly tragedy because terrorists attempt to tear apart a nation's unity, destroy a nation's wealth and economy and create national discord and spread horror and disruption wherever they go. Undoubtedly, whoever does this is, in fact, committing a crime against his or her nation, for which they deserve the harshest of penalties.

It is therefore incumbent upon us all, each in our respective fields, and it is the duty of the General Assembly and the Security Council, being the greatest citadels for peace, to stand together as one in the defence of security and curbing aggression and the fight against terrorism.

The eighth reality, as agreed by the wise of all times and places, is that the most appropriate way to settle conflicts and disputes among people is with constructive dialogue. By that, I mean dialogue that has noble goals and reasonable criteria. Those who moderate such dialogue must have positive insights, sound judgement, clear intentions and firm resolve so they can address difficulties with utmost patience. If a dialogue is to be held on religious grounds, it must focus on saving the oppressed, assisting the needy, promoting virtues and overcoming vice. Accordingly, every effort must be made to help our brothers in Palestine to fully realize all their rights.

The ninth reality is that every State has a distinct culture, just as the East, the West, the South and the North have their own cultures. The East should take what it considers most appropriate from Western civilization and vice versa, and the same applies to the South and the North. We believe in cooperation, complementarity and harmony among civilizations, and we disagree with those who believe in the clash, repulsion, incongruity and animosity among cultures and civilizations.

We support the decisions and recommendations resulting from the World Conference on Dialogue, held on 18 July 2008 by the Muslim World League under the auspices of His Majesty King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain. In that regard, we believe that the practical measures proposed by His Majesty the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques will enable us to attain all our objectives.

The President

On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar of the Arab Republic of Egypt for the statement he has just made.

The President

The Assembly will now hear an address by the former Prime Minister and Special Envoy of the President of the French Republic, who will also speak on behalf of the European Union.