AhlulBayt News Agency: Hojjat al‑Islam Ahmad Moballeghi stressed that Islamic theology must serve as the foundation for achieving true Islamic unity, arguing that ethical and jurisprudential recommendations alone are not sufficient. He said that only by reconstructing a “unity‑building theology” can the ontological foundations of the Islamic Ummah be properly understood.
Speaking at a ceremony honoring the late Dr. Ahmad Omar Hashim, former president of Al‑Azhar University, held at the Islamic Denominations University, Moballeghi highlighted Al‑Azhar’s historic role in promoting proximity among Islamic schools of thought.
He noted that Al‑Azhar experienced one of its most influential eras with the establishment of Dar al‑Taghrib bayn al‑Madhahib al‑Islamiyyah, an institution that inspired major transformations across the Muslim world and paved the way for the creation of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought.
Moballeghi said the experience of Dar al‑Taghrib showed that recognizing the legitimacy of different jurisprudential schools and acknowledging their followers can heal historical wounds and foster religious coexistence—an approach also pursued in the Islamic Republic of Iran based on the principles of the Revolution and the unity‑oriented vision of Imam Khomeini.
Raising the question of Al‑Azhar’s current role in the path of proximity, he emphasized that while ethical, jurisprudential, and social recommendations are necessary, they are not enough to achieve Islamic unity.
“The most powerful discipline for creating unity is theology,” he said.
He criticized earlier approaches that avoided theological discussions out of fear that addressing doctrinal differences might revive historical sensitivities.
“This led to sidelining theology and focusing only on shared principles or moral advice. But theology is the only discipline capable of explaining the ontological foundations of the Ummah.”
Moballeghi called for a “philosophical return to theology,” arguing that without theology, Islamic unity cannot be realized.
He stressed the need for a deep, existential theology—not a superficial or list‑based one—that examines the very being of the Ummah and interprets foundational concepts of Islamic society within the framework of divine ordinance.
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