Religion has never been a menace to humanity

• Following is the speech by World Muslim League Secretary General Dr. Sheikh Mohammad Bin Abdoulkarim Alissa at Nelum Pokuna Theatre

Most Venerable Mahanayakes of Asgiriya, Malwaththa, Ramanna, Amarapura and Kotte Chapters and all other respected Maha Sangha, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Buddhists, Hindus, Jewish, Christians and Muslims religious leaders coexisting peacefully in Sri Lanka, the land of peace and harmony, His Excellency, the President of the Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena, Honourable Karu Jayasuriya, Speaker of the Parliament, Honourable Mahinda Rajapaksa – former President and Leader of the Opposition Party, the Honourable A.J.M. Muzammil, Western Province Governor,

Honourable ministers, deputy ministers, state ministers, members of Parliament, leaders of political parties, excellences, ambassadors, high commissioners, consular generals, non-government organisations, the business community, intellectuals, ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased to be in this remarkable gathering in the context of this historic summit, which happens to be against the backdrop of the painful tragedy that hit the Republic of Sri Lanka this year by treacherous terrorist acts; a terrible crime which deliberately targeted Christian worshippers and Westerners, desecrating places of worship and hotels. 

This was just the latest manifestation in a trend of religious tragedies: Just a month prior, the city of Christchurch, New Zealand was the scene of a brutal attack on two Muslim mosques, also targeting worshippers as they sought refuge in prayer. And in the United States, Jewish synagogues in California and Pennsylvania have endured similar ruthless attacks.

Dear brothers, this important summit on the ‘Peace of Religions’ confirms the determination of the followers of religions to clarify the truth of religions that call for love, peace and harmony.

Religion has never been a menace to humanity. In Islam, Allah said in the Holy Quran about the Prophet of Islam Muhammad (PBUH) “We haven’t sent you (O! Muhammad) but a mercy to the worlds.”

However, evil elements –– and those who have been intellectually poisoned –– did not accept this fact; instead, they used religion as an excuse to serve their goals. Thus, as religious leaders, it is our duty to confront this deceitful claim and clarify the truth to the world through living testimony.

In the time since these criminal acts, which not only terrorised Sri Lanka, but shocked the entire world, the attacks on Colombo have been widely condemned –– including by Muslim religious leaders. But condemnation alone does not exonerate us, or pose a solution.

The Colombo Summit came to diagnose the current situation and propose real solutions to it, and to muster the determination of the participants to act effectively and efficiently to confront the forces of evil terrorism –– and to reveal the facts with utter transparency.

We are all looking forward to the fact that the Colombo Declaration will formally codify the aspirations and hopes of the Summit’s participants, launched from the Republic of Sri Lanka, a place that has been subjected to a great deal of disunity and terror through the decades.

God willing, our world will remain safe, despite the vile practices of the forces of evil and terrorism. And God willing, with our rock-solid will to confront them, their ideology will remain segregated, hounded and cornered, no matter how desperate their measures are.

This conference is here to assert the solidity of good will with steadfastness and perpetuity. However, we mustn’t deny our lack of resolve in allowing the evolution of the primary material of violent extremism and terrorism, and in particular the rhetoric of hatred, racism and despicable superiority against others under the guise of the hegemony of religious and ethnic ideology.

The primary attitude of this carelessness comes from the lack of determination in enacting criminal legislations that would criminalise this particular narrative –– hate speech that, left unchecked, inevitably will lead to malicious acts. This has been made obvious by obvious material facts, not just theories and speculation. Some have found an easy pretext, when they have had the opportunity to export basic materials to manufacture violent extremism and terrorism under the guise of freedoms. Thus we ended with double the trouble; falsifying the moral meaning of freedoms and sneaking through to create the suitable environment for violence and terrorism.

If wisdom says that defining a problem is half way to solving it, then the problem of terrorism lies in allowing the speech of hatred and racism go unpunished without criminalisation. Hence allowing the contempt of followers of religions and cultures without criminalisation, along with cramming the minds of children and youth with psychological illusions against “the other” – a sister soul created by God to share together the human bonds of brotherhood and companionship in life. To counter this, our need for cooperation, interaction and coexistence, require the most powerful antidote of all: love, tolerance and wisdom in words and deeds.

We are all looking forward to the fact that the Colombo Declaration will formally codify the aspirations and hopes of the Summit’s participants, launched from the Republic of Sri Lanka, a place that has been subjected to a great deal of disunity and terror through the decades. God willing, our world will remain safe, despite the vile practices of the forces of evil and terrorism. And God willing, with our rock-solid will to confront them, their ideology will remain segregated, hounded and cornered, no matter how desperate their measures are

However, as we all see, artificial barriers often evolve into persuasions; under claims of obliterating the existence of this “other”, there is no possibility of coexistence with your fellow human –– kindred brotherhood that God has honoured and made his existence one of the necessities of life. Under the manmade guise of “the other”, there is no end to this intellectual madness, for it stands to defying confronting what the Creator has ordained: the existence of difference, diversity and pluralism. Yet, with the defeats and losses incurred by its predecessors throughout history, violence and terrorism has rarely heeded the lessons that can be learned.

To change this, the world is in dire need of national intellectual awareness –– awareness that leads to bolstering harmony and stability. This will give rise to the respect of constitutions, laws and cultures of the countries where we live, in addition to the respect of religious and cultural dominance that expresses the opinion of the majority in each country, and also considering their feelings.

We are in the land of Sri Lanka, and we realise that this country is the land of Buddhist majority, thus, everyone has to understand this through the exchange of love, respect and to live in peace and harmony.

In conclusion, I ask Allah Almighty that this Summit, along with its international Declaration, will achieve its expected and anticipated objectives. I extend my sincere thanks to His Excellency the President of the Republic of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena, for his patronage and support for this summit with the presence of quality participants from around the world. Worthy of praise and admiration are his efforts in fighting extremism, terrorism and opioids –– serious scourges threatening the futures of generations to come.

It is also my pleasure to announce to you the initiative of the Muslim World League to create a $ 5,000000 charitable fund to support the families of the victims and wounded of the terrorist operations.

May Allah bless the efforts of everyone involved.

Thank you all, and peace be upon you.