In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon His Final Messenger, his pure family, his noble Companions, and all those who follow them with righteousness until the Day of Judgment.

Allah the Almighty says in His holy Book, ﴾I have approved Islam for you as religion﴿(Surat Al-Maidah-3),that is after perfecting the religion﴾ the right religion﴿, the true religion of Allah by which one is guided to integrity with no polytheism, and after the completion of grace, which in its essence is the removal of people from the darkness of ignorance to the light of faith by Allah, the One, the Eternal Refuge, the Merciful, the Wise, the Right, the Just.

If we return to the “source of the spring” – as the people of the mountains say- that is to the well-guarded instinct that Allah has created people upon and its truth which is “the love of Just and favor of Just”, that we see manifested in the first whispers and early heartbeats that the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) has said and felt since he heard the word of enlightening revelation in the cave of Hira: ﴾Read﴿. These are the simple words (the distinct verses) that revealed the “trust” that was presented ﴾ to the Heavens and the Earth and the Mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but man undertook it﴿ (Surat Al-Ahzab-72). Words that has been said and spread under the severity of oppression and hazing in the first Meccan years before migration, which led the Prophet (Peace be upon him), after watching what afflicted his companions, to call them to flee to Abyssinia (Kingdom of Axum) “a land of truth” as described by the Prophet (Peace be upon him) in accordance with the standard of justice that characterized its king who “shall not tolerate injustice”,, and this distinction  is based on the consideration of values in the “ General Humanitarian Commonality”.

We can draw the essence of the narrations that were being circulated in those years, especially in Dar Al-Makhzoumiyah Dar Al-Arqam, from the answer given by the migrants to Al-Najashi upon questioning them about the core of “this religion” with which they left their people. The answer (We were people of the Age of Ignorance… until Allah sent us His messenger…that called us to believe in the oneness of Allah…) carries the meaning of the true religion in a pure moment of the wholehearted Islam for Allah’s sake. The Ahadeeth that captured by their light the hearts that hastened to faith just as a thirst to water. It is beautiful to ponder the most prominent forty names who were guided at that time, some of which were recalcitrant whose hearts were broken by the rightfulness of the meaning, to realize that some (in the Islamic history afterwards) were a group of Rightly Guided Caliphs, army leaders, governors of lands, senior companions, reciters, and scholars. The meaning melted all hearts in the same smelter, which enabled the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) to write in the Charter of Medina about the believers after the migration that they are “one united nation”. A nation that doesn’t take over other nations’ rights, Allah says, ﴾ And mankind was not but one community, but then they differed﴿ (Surat Yunus-19), thus the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) wrote in the same Charter “Banu Awf are a nation with the believers; the Jews have their religion and the Muslims have theirs” and he made what is for the tribes of Jews in Yathrib as in with what is for Banu Awf “except who has sinned or oppressed, then he has destroyed but himself and his family”.

As one of the leading scholars of Islamic studies shows, commenting on the “Covenant of Medina”, “the nation now has a house or it is based on a territory on which it has sovereignty, and between those present on it a contract, loyalty, or allegiance. This was expressed in the modern times under the name of “citizenship”. This has also been confirmed by the “Declaration of Al-Azhar” on the “Freedom and Citizenship … Diversity and Integration” Conference, where it states in (First) the following: “the concept of ‘Citizenship’ has its origin in Islam as it was perfectly applied in the constitutional document of Madina and the subsequent covenants and treaties in which Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, defined the relationships between Muslim and non-Muslims…”

The dawn of the mercy of Islam broke away from the darkness of ignorance, paganism, and fanaticism in years that are not measured in the standards of the transformation of the nations by the Almighty Allah’s victory. In the successive decades, the light of the mission shone from Andalusia to beyond the Wall of China, where Muslims presented to the world a unique civilization that was harmonized with the unified reason with all civilizations. It preserved heritages of several civilizations for the coming generations away from the mentality of arbitrariness of classification and exclusion.

Today, when Islam confronts the schemes of stigmatization of extremism and terrorism in addition to the creation of fear among nations, we see leaders, long-standing institutions, and wise scholars who confront by pretexts, knowledge, and the true statement all falsehoods and horrible conspiracies, along with illuminating their presence in the world with the most civilized approaches. From Mecca Al-Mukarramah (Muslim World League) to Cairo (Al-Azhar Al-Sharif) to Vienna (King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue) accumulate bright stances, authenticated documentation, and the systematic methodological presentation.

And no wonder in this, delving through this treasured wisdom will fill the minds and souls with the noblest of what humanity has given in its beating heart and conscious mind. What lies in this true religion and deep-rooted culture including the clear signs and guidance strengthens souls and inspires thoughts and dreams with all goodness; not only with a sincere image of the great Islam, but also with its abundant salvation in a world threatened with the most atrocious dangers as per the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy that is concerned about “the control of the jungle law over the world”. ﴾In these things is indeed a lesson for those who have insight﴿ (Surat Al-Omran-13)

Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you.