By Bernama,
Jeddah : Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture and Information hosted a reception party here Friday to honour the ministry’s guests and media delegates who took part in Hajj coverage, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
Prince Turki bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Assistant Minister of Culture and Information, who is also Supervisor for the Ministry’s Activities in Hajj, attended the reception party on behalf of Minister of Culture and Information Iyad bin Amin Madani.
Addressing the gathering, Farah Al-Attasi, Head of the United States Arab Center for Translation, Research and Information, lauded the efforts of the Ministry to facilitate the job of media delegates who came to cover Hajj this year.
She called on Muslim media delegates, intellectuals and thinkers who live outside the Islamic world to exert more efforts to reflect Islam’s true and correct image in the foreign media.
She suggested that the initiative of Saudi’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for dialogue among followers of religions and those who belong to different civilisations and cultures, has constituted the corner stone and a major nucleus for the principles of frank dialogue and openness towards other cultures, rejection of violence, hatred and fanaticism and call for tolerance, cordiality and compassion.
The information adviser to the President of the Republic of Senegal Abdullah Sik delivered the address of the delegations of the African continent, in which he praised the leading role of the Saudi Government to serve the pilgrims in various domains during their journey of faith in the holy sites.
Sik said the surging numbers of pilgrims compared to few decades ago, clearly indicated the tremendous size and the huge volume of efforts that are being exerted by the Saudi Government.
Speaking on behalf of the delegations of the European continent, Prof. of Andalusian Literature Dr. Hassan Mansour, said the message of information is no longer confined to conveying and delivering to the recipient, but it has been transformed as a vital resource and a channel for an effective role in shaping the public opinion and formulating a course towards any issue or topic.
Prof. Mansour called on the media organs to seize the opportunity to convey the true image of Islam’s tolerance and to counter anyone who tries to spread falsities about the valued and righteous essence of Islam.
The media delegate of the Doha-based “Al-jazeera” channel Okil Al-Janahi, speaking on behalf of the delegations of the Asian continent, thanked the ministry’s officials for their warm reception and generous hospitality to the media men.
Al Janahi highlighted the main task of Muslim media men in the delivery of the true image of Islam and noted its noble principles which represent cooperation, cordiality and selflessness, pointing out that a large part of this image reflected in the coverage of the media organs of this year’s Hajj.
He expressed thanks and appreciation to King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General for the care and attention rendered by the Saudi leadership to the pilgrims.
In an address on behalf of Minister of Culture and Information Iyad bin Amin Madani and all employees of the Ministry, Prince Turki complemented the participants of the gathering on performing the Hajj rituals, praying to Allah Almighty to accept their Hajj and to ensure their safe return to their native countries and to enable them start a new journey with a sincere mission and an enlightened thought for the renaissance of the Islamic world and Muslims.
Prince Turki said: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is pleased to see the guests of Allah Almighty, completing their Hajj rituals, sensing the greatness of this religious responsibility and commending the generosity of Allah Almighty who honored the Kingdom to serve the Two Holy Mosques and their guests”.
He added that “The Kingdom has been doing its best, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince for the convenience of pilgrims as it is highly interested in serving all Muslims in accordance with the Kingdom’s deep-rooted principles.”
Prince Turki also emphasised the keenness of the Ministry to host prominent figures of literature, thought, researchers and media organs from all over the world to perform the Hajj rituals, whilst conveying the live-image of the performance of Hajj rituals.
The General Supervisor of the Australian Center for Arab media, Mohamed Abdel-Hamid Zakariya read out a telegram of thanks and appreciation sent by the guests of the Ministry to King Abdullah, Prince Sultan, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defence and Aviation And the Inspector General.
The guests expressed commended the tremendous achievements and mega projects carried out in the Two Holy Mosques as well as in the holy sites, enabling the pilgrims to perform the rituals smoothly and easily.
They also emphasized that the King’s invitation to dialogue between the followers of religions, civilizations and efforts in the conferences of this dialogue held in Makkah, Madrid and the United Nations has highlighted to the whole world that Muslims are moving forward unitedly by adhering to their religion, calling for better and humanitarian cooperation and are keen on realizing security, stability and justice, renouncing violence, conflicts, terrorism, injustice and aggression.