By Xinhua
Stasbourg : Syria’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Badr Al-Dean Hassoun said here Tuesday that the value of culture should be defined as a unifying rather than a dividing force.
In a speech to the European Parliament (EP) plenary session on the subject of intercultural dialogue, Hassoun said “there is one single culture” in the world, the culture of humankind, adding “we are all building one culture, so I do not believe in the conflict of cultures.”
He was the first speaker in a series of visits to the EP by eminent religious and cultural leaders in 2008, which has been designated European Year of Intercultural Dialogue.
If a clash did exist, this was “a conflict with ignorance, terrorism and backwardness”, he noted.
The Syrian religious leader said “there is no Islamic, Christian or Jewish civilization” in giving an answer to the question “Does civilization have a religion?”
“Religion does give culture its moral values but it is we who build civilization,” he stressed.
“In my region we do not believe in the multiplicity of religions,” said the Grand Mufti, “Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohamed all came with one religion.”
Therefore “there is no such thing as a holy war, there can never be a holy war. Only peace can be holy,” he said, adding that it was wrong to use religion to justify killing.
“Let us teach our school pupils that what is sacred in the world is man” as “man is the creation of the creator”, he said.
He suggested that rather than building walls, “let us build bridges of peace”, referring to the Middle East, and “we must create states on a civil basis, not a religious basis”.
“I don’t impose my religion on you, nor do you impose your religion on me,” he told the parliament.
Speaking on topic of women, he said that in his country women were valued and respected, though they may face injustice because of the actions of men.
He maintained that women participate in activities at all levels of society.
He praised Europe today as embodying “a miracle” in overcoming two world wars and bringing down the Berlin wall without bloodshed.
Since Damascus is this year the Cultural Capital of the Arab World, he asked the EP to hold a meeting there “to show that the world is one”.
EP President Hans-Gert Poettering said in his introductory speech that “peaceful coexistence between cultures and religions, both in the European Union and in relations with peoples in all parts of the world, in particular on the other side of the Mediterranean, in the Middle East, is both possible and essential”.
“We must build an intellectual and cultural bridge across the Mediterranean, one founded on mutual enrichment and shared values,” he said.
“Tolerance is central to intercultural dialogue. But tolerance does not mean indifference,” Poettering said, adding “Tolerance means defending one’s views, hearing out others and respecting their convictions.”