Muslim World League Secretary General Sheikh Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa is on a visit to India. As he is meeting various political and religious leaders in the country, he expressed his opinions on various issues in a media interaction.
He said, “This visit to India is a visit to our friends here in the Republic of India, and I am very delighted about this visit. During this visit, of course, we had important meetings and I was delighted to meet leadership from the political field, and also religious leadership, and these meetings were an enriching experience. We discussed many important issues that concern the harmony of national societies and the peace of our world.”
Sheikh Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa added, “These Muslims who live in India, they are proud of their constitution, and also they have this brotherly relationship with fellow citizens. And of course, we say that the issues that might have some differences, these issues, of course, should be discussed within the constitution, in the framework of love and brotherhood that they share.”
He strongly criticized terrorist organizations, emphasizing that their actions aim to distort the image of religions. He also stated that Islam and terrorism have nothing to do with each other.
#WATCH | Replying to the question–What role do you believe the religious scholars should have played to criticize extremists and those who have taken arms, Muslim World League Secretary General Sheikh Dr Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa says, "No doubt the role of the religious… pic.twitter.com/Aw7iNT785r
— ANI (@ANI) July 14, 2023
He said, “These terrorist organizations don’t represent except themselves, they have no religion or no country. Of course, we completely confront and combat these ideas and present their truth to the world. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has one of the strongest platforms to combat such ideas and is very successful in overcoming them and hitting their ideologies and their deviated ideas in the right manner.”
When asked about the role the religious scholars should have played to criticize extremists and those who have taken arms, Sheikh Dr Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa said, “No doubt the role of the religious leaders in this regard is very important in raising awareness on combating these ideas.”
Dr. Al-Issa’s six-day visit to India started on Monday, 10th July 2023, and it is primarily centered around promoting interfaith harmony and facilitating meaningful connections between Indian political and religious leaders and the influential Islamic organization, the Muslim World League (Rabitat al-Alam al-Islami). As an internationally recognized Islamic NGO established and supported by Saudi Arabia, this visit is also perceived as a form of “peace diplomacy.”
During an event in New Delhi’s India-Islamic Cultural Centre on Tuesday, 11th July 2023, he praised India’s unity and the Muslim community within the country for their sense of national pride. He said, “We have heard a lot about Indian wisdom…We know that we have a common objective of co-existing peacefully together. We know that the Indian components with all their diversity are a great model for coexistence not only in mere words but also on the ground and we appreciate all the efforts taken in this regard.”
Sheikh Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa is popular as the Secretary General of the Muslim World League, a significant international Islamic NGO established and supported by Saudi Arabia. He is often seen fostering connections between global political and religious leaders on behalf of the organization. He met PM Modi on 11th July 2023. He will meet President Draupadi Murmu on 15th July 2023.
