Posted on December 22, 2013 by Veritas
Grand Mufti of the Republic Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun affirmed to the delegation that Syria was and always will be the home of civilization and a meeting point for cultures.
He said that Syria, the land of peace, is facing a conspiracy which targets its cultural and civilized diversity and its moderate Islam which rejects extremism.Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham of Antioch and All the East called upon people of the Arab world to stand shoulder to shoulder in the face of the growing takfiri extremist movements threatening their societies.
In a message he addressed Saturday on the occasion of Christmas, Patriarch Laham referred to the suffering inflicted by the takfiri groups upon the people of Syria regardless of their religious beliefs and affiliations.
He called upon the Syrians to be patient and not to be scared into leaving their homeland.
“We all Christian and Muslims must stay together and build the renewed Syria and the renewed Arab world,” he said.
The Patriarch said there are many agonies braking out everywhere in the Arab orient, making a particular reference to “sad Syria”, where he said hundreds of innocent victims have fallen and a number of worship places and churches have been burned and damaged all over the country, citing those in Maaloula in particular.
He highlighted the scale of tragedies suffered by the Syrian families over the loss of their sons and loved ones due to the criminal acts committed by the extremists.
Syria, Patriarch Laham said, has entered the world’s conscience; once when it was under the threat of a foreign military attack, another time was upon Maaloula’s outcry and a third when Pope Francis appealed for fast and prayer for peace in Syria, a call almost the whole world did join.
The call, he added, continues upon the people to take the path of peace, Geneva 2 conference and reconciliation so as to build a better future for Syria.
The Patriarch urged the people of the Arab communities to stick to patience under the “stifling, destructive, bloody and tragic” crises facing them, particularly in Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon which are largely bearing the brunt of the takfiri acts.
In this context, Patriarch Laham said the Arab and international failure to come to solving the Palestinian cause is what has exposed the Arab societies to more extremism and migration.
Patriarch John X Yazigi of Antioch and the entire East for Greek Orthodox Church stressed that the Christians are a main component in Syria, as all the Syrian components are living like a family for a long time.
“We, in Syria, live like a family for a long time, and our history, future and goal for building the country are common,” Patriarch X Yazigi said in an interview with the Syrian TV on Friday.He pointed out that the Syrian people with all their components, and despite all difficulties, have proved that the ideologies of abduction and killing will not pass to their mentality.
“Those who attack churches, mosques and religious figures are attacking all sublime human values and the civilization heritage… the utter attack on our values makes us abide by our homeland,” he added.
His Beatitude said ” We will not fear or surrender to the schemes plotted to undermine Syria,” clarifying that “what the Syrian people and leadership are doing for confronting terrorism is an indication to our steadfastness as Moslems and Christians.”
“We cannot talk about the Middle East without one of its main components, as talking about a Middle East free of Christians is pure fantasy, and it is the problem of some countries which have an interest in evacuating the region of Christians but not ours.
Minister of Endowments, Dr. Mohammad Abdul-Sattar al-Sayyed, stressed that the biggest concern of the Islamic nation nowadays is “combating the Takfiri mentality which is instigated by the enemies of Islam to distort its tolerant human and civilized image.”
Meeting an Iranian scholars delegation taking part in the preparatory meeting of the international conference on the dangers of Takfiri trends which was held in Damascus last Wednesday, Minister al-Sayyed pointed out to the importance of paying attention to the dangers of Takfiri mentality and the volume of criminality committed by the Takfiri groups under the titles of Islam.
Members of the delegation stressed the importance of the Muslim scholars’ role in confronting the phenomenon of Takfiri mentality.
Head of the delegation, Sayyed Mahdi Ali, said that the conference will hold seven more preparatory meetings in a number of countries, including Iraq, Tunisia, Pakistan and the United Kingdom until the conference is held in the Iranian city of Qom later.