His Excellency Dr. Suliman Aba Al-Khail, Rector of Al-Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, member of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars (Ulema), received the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Dr. Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen, to sign a memorandum of cooperation to get the benefit from the university’s scientific and research cadres and experiences in the moderate principles of Islam. The Rector welcomed the Secretary General in the university, pointing out that signing this memorandum of cooperation is embedded in the reinforcement of Islamic and national values as well as accomplishing governors’ aspiration, under the leadership of the custodian of the Tow Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud and his Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdul Aziz. He indicated that in the meantime we need collaboration to demonstrate Islamic moderate principles, which is far from hyperbole and terrorism, and called to take serious steps to accomplish governors’ aspiration through honest and hard work. In addition, his excellency emphasized that the university is one of the first educational institutions that aimed to spread the moderate principles of Islam and tried to attain a well-established approach to let the whole world know that Islam is the religion of justice and mercy. He added that the memorandum between the university and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has important goals and a global mission.
Moreover, his Excellency indicated that the Secretary General has chosen Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University to sign this agreement for it contains all the important tools and branches that may help the organization to perfectly perform its task and achieve its mission. The benefits of this agreement can be summarized as follow: the university is international, national, social and classical and that are all what the Organization needs. In addition, it contains more than 16 institutes for Arabic and Islamic sciences, the university also presides the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW), which includes 316 universities around the world, it also contains deanship of E-learning and Distance Education which serves more than 80 thousand enrolled students. Besides, the university is one of the most important academic institutions which extremely contributes to the formulation of Islamic vision and is also one of the largest universities in Saudi Arabia in the incubation of scholarship students with more than 8,000 students from 140 countries. Moreover, the university has an international center for dialogue, which is King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Centre for Contemporary Islamic Studies and Civilization Dialogue. It also contains the Supreme Jurisdiction Institute. Hence, the university puts all its units and capabilities to get the greatest benefit from this memorandum.
From his side, Dr. Al-Othaimeen thanked the Leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting the organization which serves all Muslims around the globe. He also praised Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University and appreciated the efforts of its rector to sign the memorandum which promotes the values of the tolerant Islamic religion. Additionally, Dr. Al-Othaimeen stated that the memorandum of cooperation aims to support the organization with expertise and studies in the Center for Dialogue, Peace and Understanding (CDPU), Sawt Al-Hikma (The Voice of Wisdom) which works to face terrorism as well as to develop a credible discourse to delegitimize radical discourse and to highlight the true message of Islam through social media and internet. The general responsibility of the Center is to plan and carry out activities that contribute to the development of intellectual and ideological foundations to promote respect for diversity, values of moderation, tolerance, peaceful coexistence and building bridges with other cultures and civilizations. He also pointed out that the memorandum aims at benefiting from the university's expertise in spreading Arabic language and teaching it to non-native speakers, taking advantage of the university's experiences in the so-called fear of Islam, and benefiting from students of educational scholarships. In conclusion, Dr. Al-Othaimeen indicated that The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations with a membership of 57 states spread over four continents. The Organization is the collective voice of the Muslim world. It endeavors to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world and to promote international peace and harmony. The Organization has the singular honor to galvanize the Ummah into a unified body and have actively represented the Muslims by espousing all causes close to the hearts of over 1.5 billion Muslims around the world. The Organization has consultative and cooperative relations with the UN and other inter-governmental organizations to protect the vital interests of the Muslims and to work for the settlement of conflicts and disputes involving member states. In safeguarding the true values of Islam and the Muslims, the organization has taken various steps to remove misperceptions and has strongly advocated elimination of discrimination against Muslims in all forms and manifestations.
