• Reports
  • February 9, 2007
  • 7 minutes read

Steps to End Sedition Between Sunnis and Shiites in a Fortnight


Dr. Muhammad Salim Al-`Awwa, secretary general of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS), stated that the IUMS reached an agreement with Iranian officials on a number of constructive steps to extinguish the fire of sedition between Sunnis and Shiites. He pointed out that the first of these steps will see light in a couple of weeks from now.

 

Dr. `Awwa also clarified that the agreement was reached during a visit by a member of the IUMS delegation to Tehran this week. In addition to Al-`Awwa, the IUMS delegation included the Islamic writer and IUMS board member, Fahmi Howeidi.

 

“The delegation talks with the Iranian officials handled the tense relations between Sunnis and Shiites and the reasons for this tension, as well as the means by which the sedition that began to disrupt the Muslim nation can be contained,” Dr. Salim Al-`Awwa told IumsOnline on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2007.

He added, “Issues that were raised by the delegation had a positive response from Iranian officials; as a number of constructive steps were made to strengthen the bonds of Islamic fraternity between Sunnis and Shiites. It was agreed that the first of the agreed steps would see light in a fortnight.”

 

As regards the situation in Iraq and the sectarian war targeting mainly Sunnis, Al-`Awwa said that the delegation discussed the sectarian killings and forced eviction between the two parties with Iranian officials. He also urged the halt of bloodshed and sought reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiites in war-torn Iraq for the purpose of the unity of the Muslim Ummah. He hinted that the Iranian response was positive.

The IUMS delegation met with Hashemi Rafsanjani, chairman of Iran’s expediency council, Ali Larijani, secretary of the supreme national security council, and Dr. Ali Akbar Wilayati, adviser of the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. The delegation also met with the foreign minister ,Manuchehr Mottaki, and Ayatollah Mohammed Ali Al Taskhiri, secretary general of the world forum for proximity of Islamic thought.

On the sidelines of his participation in the Doha Conference for Dialogue of Islamic Schools of Thought on Saturday Jan. 20, 2007, the eminent scholar, Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, president of the IUMS, revealed that the IUMS intended to send a delegation to Iran to hold talks with senior officials there concerning the situation in Iraq and the issues raised about the sectarian killings that target Sunnis.

Sheikh Al-Qaradawi said, “The delegation will emphasize to Iranian officials that the sectarian killings in Iraq are not in the interest of Islam and Iraq, but are for the benefit of the enemies of the nation. There will be no winner in the coming battles, as all of us will definitely lose; the first and sole beneficiaries will be the Zionists and the Americans.”