Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Dr. Mohamed Sayed Tantawi in his speech said that Islam has always called for all forms of change, including the secular change that serves lawful rights, as God Almighty ordered his prophet to ask Him for more knowledge.
He said that developing Islamic thought does not at all contradict the foundations and principles of Islam, and that all divine religions call for knowledge and righteousness and reject ignorance and falsehood.
Minister of Religious Endowments Dr. Mohamed Hamdi Zaqzouq said: “Throughout history, attempts of Muslim scholars to develop Islamic thought were not limited to the religious aspect of such development, but rather covered all aspects of life, as Islam is a religion of life with all its dimensions.”
He added: “We are fully aware of the international changes surrounding our Islamic World, which imposes on us the need to re-examine many of the things that have stifled the Islamic nation and put it behind the civilization of the modern world. However, this does not mean that the Islamic civilization has collapsed completely, as there are still important and essential elements that can be built upon to develop it in accordance with modern times.”
He said developing Islamic thought has became an urgent pragmatic need that should not be delayed, as we cannot in any way be isolated from the world and all the changes around us.
Islamic Conference Organization Secretary-General Dr. Ekmeleddin Aujali said the Islamic world is in need of good guidance to confront its enemies, pointing out that the continuity of religion is contingent upon its development, which should be carried out only by the scholars that have broad knowledge and know the message of Islam.
Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the Saint Mark Episcopate, said: “Developing Islamic thought is a practice since the dawn of Islam till Doomsday, as it is a religion of permanent development of thought and life with all its dimensions.”
He pointed out that Islam has always kept pace with the times especially as regards women, who are now holding prestigious posts in ministries and in the judiciary.
Participating in the conference are 300 scholars, intellects, ministers and muftis from 95 countries and organizations all over the world for four days. But Iran’s absence was noticed, although it has been participating in it over the past years, and although the Ministry of Religious Endowments has sent it an invitation that it did not reply to.
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