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Custodian of Two Holy Mosques Receives 90 Scholars and Thinkers | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Jeddah, Asharq Al-Awsat – King Abdullah Bin-Abdulaziz, the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, asserted that the extraordinary Islamic summit would benefit from the ideas and proposals made by the nation”s scholars and thinkers after their three days meetings in Mecca.

Addressing the group of scholars and thinkers from the Muslim world, King Abdullah said, &#34I promise you that my brothers the presidents and leaders of the Muslim countries and I will be eager to consider your recommendations and proposals because you are the elite of the Muslim world.&#34 He urged the Muslim nation”s scholars and thinkers to exert more effort and take action to enlighten the nation and called on them to make more effort to spread the enlightened ideas of centrism in Islam.

The custodian of the Two Holy Mosques said these ideas and proposals are not only for confronting the challenges facing the Muslim world but also for drawing up a new strategy for the Organization of the Islamic Countries (OIC) to enable it to play its desired role in strengthening solidarity between the Muslim countries and unite them in defense of the causes of Islam and Muslims.

The king made these remarks when he received at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah sunday afternoon 90 scholars and thinkers from inside and outside the Muslim countries preparing the recommendations and solutions that will be on the agenda of the upcoming extraordinary summit of the Muslim world”s presidents and leaders in Mecca at the end of November.

King Abdullah invited during last year”s pilgrimage season the Muslim nation”s scholars and thinkers to meet and discuss the Muslim nation”s conditions and seek the successful solutions for the challenges the Muslim world is facing during the 21st Century. He received them next to the Holy Mosque in Mecca and received from them a summary of the most important results of their forum discussions.

The participants in the forum of Muslim scholars and thinkers concluded yesterday afternoon their meetings that were held between 9 and 11 September. The 90 scholars and thinkers from inside and outside the Muslim countries were divided into three committees: The political and media affairs committee; the Islamic thought, culture, and education committee; and the economic affairs, science, and technology committee.

The final forum session saw a summary review of the discussions during the past two days in addition to the ideas and future visions of the Muslim nation”s problems.

The OIC secretariat general documented the scholars and thinkers” ideas and drafted them in a single document that will be submitted to the Muslim world”s leaders and presidents at the upcoming extraordinary Islamic summit.

Atta al-Manan Bakhit, the OIC”s official spokesman, told &#34Asharq al-Awsat&#34 that the document to be presented to the Muslim leaders would have the title of &#34Contributions of the Muslim World”s Scholars and Thinkers to the Extraordinary Summit.&#34 He added that the document has three main aspects: &#34The first one concerns an examination of the challenges that the Muslim world is facing and the means of confronting them. The second deals with the strategies that will strengthen the bonds between the Muslim world”s countries. The third deals with the OIC situations.&#34 He added,&#34The participants concluded on the first aspect that it is important to change the Muslim countries” stand from one of defense to attack and that the Muslim world should not remain influenced but influencing because they see the Muslim world as part of the world.&#34

Bakhit explained that the participants in the forum raised an important question about the OIC by saying: &#34The question was: Do the Muslims need the OIC? They said yes, after several deliberations, especially as the OIC includes almost 60 Muslim countries. But they concentrated on the importance of restructuring it.&#34

In the same context, sources inside the OIC stressed that its restructuring is afoot and that the organization intends to reform itself by changing its charter and its name from OIC to another name.