بســم اللّـه الرّحمـن الرّحيــم
الحمـدللّـه ربّ العـالمـين، والصّـلاة والسّـلام على سـيّدنا محـمّد، خاتم الأنبياء والمرسـلين، وَعلـى آلـه وصحبـه أجمـعـين
Excellencies,
السّلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
Let me express my profound thanks to the organizing body of the International Moderation Forum of Jordan for conferring on me this very esteemed Award.
The Award will without doubt serve as an added incentive to bolster my current efforts in counter-terrorism and in the enhancement of moderation in the preaching and practice of Islam in the Maldives.
Let me also take this opportunity to convey my sincere appreciation to the President of the International Forum for Moderation the former Prime Minister of Sudan H.E. Alsadiq Alsiddiq AbdelRahman Almahdi – Imam.
I am truly honoured and privileged to join the ranks of the distinguished previous recipients of this Award; the late King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, H.M. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and the current President of Mauritania, H.E. Mohamed wildhu Abdulaziz.
The International Moderation Forum has attained great heights to promote moderation, counter-terrorism and in offering a counter-narrative to the allegations of Islam as a radical and violent faith.
The Forum this year inaugurated yesterday in Kurumba Island Resort has been an immense success and I hope for even greater feats in the years ahead.
Excellencies,
Islam and the Muslim Ummah have been plunged into dire circumstances. We live in pressing times that call for immediate and coordinated action. The Islamic world is rife with internal division, civil discord, war and human suffering, the scale of which is of the likes we have never seen before in history. Our Muslim brothers and sisters in Palestine, in Syria, in Yemen, the Rohingya, and many more displaced around the world live grim lives. Their pain is ours. Their helplessness is ours. We have a duty to help them all.
The predicament we face is largely incited and further aggravated by external influences looking to exert ideological and political influence in the vacuum left behind. We have reason enough to unite together to relinquish a common threat. To counter debilitating forces from within and outside that tarnish the good name and true teachings of Islam. Those that frame Islam as a cult-like deity that espouse violent revolt. Those that strive to pitch Muslims against Muslims, create enmity between ourselves, and weaken our brotherhood. And those that draw a bold line between Muslims and non-Muslims, created an Us and Others, a Right and Wrong; a vengeful justification to wreak havoc in the name of religion.
Islam suffers a great deformation through the phenomenon of Islamophobia, as the result of the rise of terror and destruction in the Islamic world, the Muslim Ummah.
Misinterpretations of Islam have promulgated radical thought and violent extremism; faulty interpretations that have laid the basis for the wrongful association of Islam with terrorism.
But Islam, as revealed in the Holy Quran and Sunnah is a religion of peace, moderation and humanity. The values of justice, equality, freedom and respect for human rights are indeed the underlying tenets of Islam. Islam respects those of other faiths and it certainly does not endorse the impinging on innocent lives and livelihoods of innocent civilians.
Excellencies,
The Maldives have made enormous strides in implementing substantial measures to foil radical thought, terrorism and violent extremism. The establishment of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in 2016, and the enactment of the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 2016 are notable amongst these.
Our ethical responsibility as leaders summarises that we have to enhance the power of moderation and tolerance in the Islamic world, achieve effective communication between good forces on earth and, tolerant and moderate movements in the Islamic world, movements that do not believe in terrorising and that do not justify crimes under any banner. Such is the Law of God.
Quran commands mankind to repel the evil with something that is better. The New Testament preaches: Liar is he who said that evil is repelled with evil, let him set two fires and see if one extinguishes the other. Evil is repelled with good, and darkness is repelled with light.
I wish the International Moderation Forum continued success in carrying out its roles and objectives in promoting moderation in Islam and in the fight against the menace of terrorism.
I wish to God that he helps us in our endeavour; what we do here in the Maldives to create a moderate society.
ﻭَﻣَﺎ ﺗَﻮْﻓِﻴﻘِﻲ ﺇِلاَّ ﺑِﺎﻟﻠَّﻪِ ﻋَﻠَﻴْﻪِ ﺗَﻮَﻛَّﻠْﺖُ ﻭَﺇِﻟَﻴْﻪِ ﺃُﻧِﻴﺐُ
والسّلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته