First day of international conference on combating Islamophobia ends in Baku

The first day of the international conference on "Protection of Diversity: Fighting Islamophobia in 2024", which started in Baku on March 8, has ended.

Azernews reports that the last session of the first day of the conference was dedicated to the topic "Fighting Islamophobia in the context of higher education".

In the session moderated by Agil Shirinov, rector of the Azerbaijan Institute of Theology, Chairman of the Brain Research Center "Muslim Institute" (operates in Islamabad and London), Prime Minister of Junagadh, India, Sahibzada Sultan Ahmad Ali, who spoke about Islamophobia, said that the West does not know enough about Islam. . He noted that the recent increase in Islamophobia is related to certain factors. It was emphasized that in recent years, hate crimes have increased in different parts of the world, and they wrongly associate it with Islamophobia.

Pointing out that Islamophobic elements have increased in the West over the past 20 years, Sultan Ahmed Ali stressed the importance of teaching Islam in a wide range of schools in order to scientifically prevent Islamophobia.

Mahjoob Ahmed Suleman Zweiri (Qatar), director of the "Gulf" Research Center of Qatar University, stressed that those who created Islamophobia are not sure of themselves. According to him, the period of fourteen hundred years and more has already proven that Islam is against conflicts, wars, women, children and in general all kinds of violence.

Speaking about the conflicts, Mahjoob Ahmed Suleman Zveiri said that those who talk about Islamophobia should take care of themselves and not push us to become radicalized. He drew attention to the importance of educating high school students in this spirit in order to fight Islamophobia.

Tural Ganjaliyev, MP of Milli Majlis, stressed that Azerbaijan has suffered from occupation for 30 years, and our cultural and historical monuments have been destroyed. He said that this is Islamophobia itself. T. Ganjaliyev said that the Armenian diaspora uses churches as a means of manipulation. He pointed out that some of them are appointed to positions because of their "services" by talking about Islamophobia and against Azerbaijan and Turkey.

The MP also drew attention to the existence of a "political vaccine" in the fight against Islamophobia.

"We will fight Islamophobia until the end. The vandalism of the statue of Khurshidbanu Natava, the daughter of Karabakh Khan in France, shows the true nature of those who talk about Islamophobia," added Tural Ganjaliyev.

Mohamed Alshahhat Abdulhamid Mohamed Algindi, rector of Nur-Mubarak Egyptian University of Islamic Culture, said that Muslims are currently being labeled as fanatics, people who are against human rights and democracy. Islam is shown as a religion against democracy, human rights, modern humanity, civilization, human values, and progress. We are witnessing such views regarding the majority of Muslim countries. Therefore, it is necessary to know the exact essence of Islam. "All Muslim countries have accepted the UN Declaration of International Human Rights without exception. Muslim countries are members of the UN. There is a need for modern dialogues about Islam. We have to solve this issue from the roots," he said.

The rector said that unfortunately, they do not listen to the people of Islamic countries. If we want to engage in global dialogue, it must be based on peace, tolerance, tolerance, moral values ??and principles. Western countries should also be aware of this issue.

Director of the Family and Youth Institute of the United States, Samir Ahmed, noted that Islamophobia has both institutional and individual effects. It is a complex, at the same time, multifaceted phenomenon. It encourages aggression both directly and indirectly.

He pointed out that Islamophobia does not affect the actions of students in higher education institutions, and the problem of approach and support is evident at this time.

It was reported that today Muslim students are worried about their personal safety in Western countries. Muslims are persecuted for their political beliefs. This affects students' living conditions and raises questions about their safety. As a result, those young people are forced to stay out of all processes, as a result, they are isolated from society. This is the negative consequences of Islamophobia. A complex approach is needed to solve such problems.

Other speakers emphasized the importance of the fight against Islamophobia, shared their views and voiced their suggestions regarding the teaching and promotion of Islam in a wider spectrum, and the education of students in the direction of the fight against Islamophobia in higher schools.

It should be noted that the international scientific conference on "Protecting Diversity: Combating Islamophobia in 2024" is being held with the joint support of the Baku International Center for Multiculturalism, the Center for the Analysis of International Relations, the G20 Interreligious Dialogue Forum and the Baku Initiative Group.

Scientists from 32 countries of the world, experts of international organizations, religious figures and more than 130 representatives of non-governmental organizations are participating in the conference.

The event was attended by Cole Durham, President of the Interfaith Dialogue Forum of the G20 Summit (USA), Yousef Aldobeay, Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (Saudi Arabia) for Political Affairs, Khalid Fathal Rahman Omer Mohamed, Director of ISESCO's Center for Inter-Civilizational Dialogue (Sudan), European Conference of Churches. Human rights defender Elizabeta Kitanovic (Serbia) and other well-known persons attended.

It should be noted that every year March 15 is celebrated as the International Day of Combating Islamophobia.