Modi, Abdullah for moderate Islam
Smita Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 1
In a significant event laced with high symbolism for domestic politics too, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today shared stage with Jordanian King Abdullah II where the two spoke about moderate Islam and de-radicalisation.
Hundreds of Islamic scholars and foreign diplomats attended the programme where King Abdullah delivered a keynote address on “Islamic Heritage: Promoting Understanding and Moderation”.
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Prior to the speeches, short video highlighting Islam’s advent in India and the country’s syncretic culture, images of PM Modi with leaders and rulers from West Asia and Gulf flashed on the screen and several key Muslim representatives were invited to be on the dais with the two top leaders.
Highlighting his ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ (collective efforts, inclusive growth) slogan, Modi said, “Our rich diversity gives us the needed strength in today’s time, full of uncertainties and contaminated by violence and hatred, to fight the challenges of terrorism and extremism.”
He stressed those who carry out barbaric attacks against humanity harm the very religious faith they claim to represent. “The fight against terrorism, extremism, radicalisation is not a fight against any sect. It is a fight against the mindsets that mislead our youth to perpetrate brutality against innocent people,” said the PM.
King Abdullah, the 41st generation direct descendant of Prophet Muhammad and custodian of Al Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, stressed the need for inclusivity. He called the global war against terror as a fight between moderates of all faiths against extremists. “We need to recognise and reject the misinformation such groups promote about Islam or indeed any other faith. We need to take back airwaves and internet from the voices of hatred, those who have victimised our world,” said the King, though without any specific mention of Al Qaeda or Islamic State. The leaders also released the Urdu translation of a book titled ‘A Thinking Person’s Guide to Islam’. Authored by Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, a cousin of the King and also chief adviser for religious and cultural affairs, the book attempts to interpret the real meaning of Islam.
It is split into 12 thematic chapters, each beginning with and centered around a key Qur’anic verse and has been translated in Urdu by Maulana Mehmood Madani of the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind.
On the occasion, Madani underlined that “interests of Indian Muslims and the country can never be different”. While Syed Salman Chishti, hereditary custodian of Dargah Ajmer Sharif, speaking to The Tribune, later remarked it is important to amplify the message of love and spiritual tradition though social media and modern learning to defeat hatred and radicalisation.
12 pacts with Jordan
- India and Jordan signed 12 pacts, including one on defence framework to define scope of such cooperation and make provisions for its implementation in areas like training, defence industry, military studies, cyber security, military medical services, peacekeeping and capacity building
- The two sides exchanged eleven other MoUs, including for long-term rock phosphate and fertiliser supplies, a twining pact between the heritage sites of Agra and Petra, and an understanding to set up a Hindi chair at the University of Jordan
- India also agreed to supply $5 million worth of medicines, vaccines to 1.3 million Syrian refugees in Jordan
