The Honourable Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Honourable Ministers, Brothers and Sisters:
On behalf of all of you and on behalf of my wife and myself, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to our distinguished guest tonight, Professor Abdelwahab Elmessiri and his wife, Dr. Hoda Hegazi.
I met Abdelwahab Elmessiri for the first time many years ago. At that time, believe it or not, both of us were quite young. If you can’t believe it, let me tell you an Egyptian saying which says,
(If the reason is known, the wonder is gone.)
It was fifty-two years ago that we first met at a youth camp in Alexandria. As you would agree, at that time we must have been a little younger than now! Even then, I was impressed by his intelligence and by his warmth and friendliness. In short, we became friends.
It was while we were at the camp that the Egyptian revolution led by General Mohammed Neguib and Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser took place. The camp came to an abrupt end, and I returned to Cairo and Abdelwahab to his hometown of Damanhour.
We didn’t meet many times after that, but we continued to correspond for many years. As I recall, we lost touch with each other sometime in the 1960s.
Then, all of a sudden, about fifteen years ago, I received a letter from Dr. Elmessiri when he was teaching at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. His telephone number was there in his letter, so I called him immediately. By that time, he had become a well-known intellectual and a writer in the Arab world – a man, as Egyptians would say, as big as the world!
Professor Elmessiri is an author, a philosopher, a historian, a teacher, a poet and many other things. He is going to speak tonight on “Islam and the Western Civilization”.
I think all of us, whether we are rich or poor, young or old, teachers or students, leaders or ordinary people, are seeking wisdom. Wisdom is something that comes with knowledge and a deep understanding of the human experience.
We need wisdom in our daily life, and we need it in our dealings with others; particularly in our interactions with people who belong to other cultures.
Allah says in the Holy Qur’an:
ٱلْأَلْبَـٰبِ. (الـــبقرة:269)
“He (Allah) grants wisdom to whom He pleases; and he to whom wisdom is granted receives indeed a benefit overflowing; but none will grasp the Message but men of understanding.” (2:269)
Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, let us listen to Professor Abdelwahab Elmessiri and learn from his wisdom.
Thank you.