AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The Secretary General of the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, Bahrain’s main opposition group, welcomed a call by Al-Azhar Chief Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb for Islamic-Islamic dialogue.
Sheikh Ali Salman, in a letter to el-Tayeb, appreciated his “kind invitation” to serious Islamic-Islamic dialogue for creation of religious and Islamic fraternity and rejection of discord, clashes and sectarian conflicts, the media office of Al-Wefaq reported.
Sheikh Salman also thanked the head of Al-Azhar Islamic Center and the Muslim Council of Elders for their efforts to put the past behind and enhance Muslim unity.
He expressed confidence that Shia religious centers would welcome this invitation as they have always sought Islamic unity, fraternity and coexistence.
Speaking last Friday in Bahrain, El-Tayeb said, “I and major scholars of Al-Azhar and Muslim Council of Elders are ready with open arms to sit down together on one roundtable with our Shia brothers to put aside our differences and strengthen our Islamic unity.”
Such a dialogue, he maintained, will aim at chasing away any talk of hate, provocation and excommunication and setting aside ancient and modern conflict in all its forms.
“I call on my brothers, Muslim scholars, across the world of every doctrine, sect and school of thought to hold an Islamic dialogue,” El-Tayeb stressed.
The forum was held in Manama in the presence of Pope Francis who made his first-ever trip to the island country.
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