Address by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the visit to the Al-Azhar University Conference Centre on Dialogue and Learning for Peace Cairo, 13 May 2015 Professor Abdel Hai Azab, President of Al Azhar University, Prof. Dr. Sayed Abdel-Khalik, Minister of Higher Education, Excellency Mr Mohammed Amr, Permanent Delegate Delegate Distinguished Representatives of all faiths, Distinguished Scholars, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Salam Aleikoum! I am deeply honoured to be here, at the University of Al Azhar, at this beacon of knowledge, to discuss the stakes of tolerance and mutual understanding today. Allow me to thank the President of Al Azhar University for his passionate speech and for his words of wisdom. I have been impressed, Mr President, by your message about moderation and knowledge, by your strong appeal to fight all forms of illiteracy, I believe this is precisely what we need today. Thank you. I am also deeply grateful to his Excellency Minister of Higher Education for his words of encouragement to UNESCO, in this decisive year, when UNESCO celebrates its 70 anniversary. DG/2015/091 Original: English
The Al-Azhar University was established over one thousand years ago, and is one of the most prestigious and oldest universities in the Islamic world. Its influence and its leadership are unmatched, in Egypt and further afield. This is precisely the power of knowledge and cultural heritage we need today it gives us the power of perspective and continuity, to consider the turbulent trends of our times. These are, indeed, turbulent times. People and cultures do not weigh the same in the scales of globalization. Identities are being called into play. In societies and cities that are ever more diverse, we know what happens when dialogue and understanding break down. Ignorance of each other s ways and prejudice against the cultural diversity are causes of mistrust, poverty, tension and conflict. The fabric of society is quickly torn and long to mend. At the global level, this calls for more dialogue among cultures, with a stronger focus on what unites all cultures and religions the respect for human life. All religions have been, in the course of history, misused to fuel hatred, violence or political agendas but the quest of spirituality is a quest for peace and human dignity. At a time when extremists seek to annihilate the difference between life and death, we need to reaffirm and fight for the value of human life, which is at the core of all religions. DG/2015/091 - Page 2
At the individual level, this demands also new skills to help people, especially young people, foster a culture of peace and mutual understanding, within their communities, within their neighbourhoods. This cannot happen by itself, through economic and political arrangements only: it takes time and it must take roots in good governance, social inclusion and social justice it takes the empowerment of all men and women to find their place in society, through quality education, through decent jobs. The world has watched with admiration the young people of Egypt fighting for social justice, and dignity. This has revealed the depth of the Egyptian soul and desire for a better future. Some seek to exploit the unfulfilled hopes of youth to fuel anger and bitterness. And all leaders, including and most particulrary religious leaders, have a great responsibility not to let this happen. As you have so eloquently just mention Mr President, Al Azhar stands at the frontline of this mission, both as a place of dialogue and as a place of dialogue, of moderation, or learning, and this is why I am so privileged to be here. Our societies have never been so connected, and at the same time, they are also deeply fragmented. New technologies have created a new global public space, where everyone can speak out and share knowledge and at the same time, it is easier, infortunately to disseminate hatred and exploit prejudice. We are called to respond to these conflicting forces. Will we accept to be divided along the barriers of our nations, cultures, economic status, gender and faith? Or will humanity rise up as one single family, sharing the same planet, making the most of its diversity to foster human dignity? DG/2015/091 - Page 3
We need to renew with this human spirit and I believe we can. My family comes from a small town in the South-West of Bulgaria, where 80% of the population is Muslim. I know what it means to live in a multicultural, multireligious and multi-ethnic community. In the cities of my country Bulgaria, still today, such as Sofia and Plovdiv, which are among the most multicultural cities of South-East Europe, it is natural to see an Orthodox church, a mosque, a synagogue and a Catholic church side by side, a few dozens of metres apart. I have experienced from childhood that cultures flow into the same river, that of human civilization. There is no pure culture : no culture has ever flourished in isolation. In the long thread of history, cultures have always mingled, enriched and influenced each other. And this is why we all suffer and are shocked when the cultural heritage of another culture is destroyed or targeted because we feel humanity as a whole is diminished and attacked. We are bound by our status as human beings. Sometimes these bonds are blurred or neglected. It is our role to reveal these linkages, to rebuild a sense of cohesion and dialogue, and live together, peacefully, in moderation, in diverse societies. For this, we need an inspiration and we can find it in the message of Islam. (DG speaks in arabic) O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed Allh is Knowing and Acquainted. DG/2015/091 - Page 4
This means our diversity is our greatest strength, not a weakness. Islam has pushed the human civilization forward, expressing its most noble aspirations, fostering ideas now shared by all humanity, making it stronger and more complete. It was Islam -- at places like Al-Azhar -- that carried the light of learning in the Islamic Golden age, paving the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; as we celebrate in 2015 the International Year of Light, we remember the great scientist Ibn Al-Haytham who wrote the first ever book on optics one thousand years ago. All of this tells us something about who are, and what we can achieve, where we come from and where we want to go. I was deeply inspired by the recent declaration of the Grand Imam, where he recalled that Islamic civilization is a civilization of recognition and connection. Against the forces that divide humanity, we must foster precisely these ideas of recognition and connection, to tighten the bonds between all people and cultures. UNESCO World Heritage Sites are a first place to start. Humanity s cultural heritage if you come to think about it, is an open book to learn about the interdependence of all cultures, in all their diversity. This is especially true for Islamic heritage sites, many of which are inscribed on the World Heritage List: the Medinas of Tunis, Fez, Marrakesh, Meknes, all bearing witness to the wealth of Islamic history. Each of these sites has deep roots in their respective society. DG/2015/091 - Page 5
Each is also woven into the history of all humanity, to be cherished and safeguarded for the benefit of all, embodying ideas and values that carry universal weight. Take the Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan, an outstanding example of Islamic architecture, or the Sheikh Safi al-din Khānegāh and Shrine Ensemble in Ardabil, in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Take the Mausoleums in Timbuktu, Mali, the city of 333 saints, which were destroyed by violent extremists in 2012, which UNESCO is rebuilding today. Take Historic Jeddah, Gate to Makkah and of course Historic Cairo one of the world's oldest Islamic cities, with its unique mosques, madrasas and fountains. There are few cities in the world as rich as Cairo, with no less than 600 classified monuments dating from the 7 th to 20 th centuries. The fact these building have been protected and revered by generations, and transmitted through generations, says something about the importance of heritage, and why it is unconceivable to destroy heritage in the name of religion. The same is true for pre-islamic heritage, targeted today in Iraq, where violent extremists are attacking old Assyrian and Babylonian sites and I wish to commend Al Azhar s strong condemnations of such destruction. I can hardly think of a better place than Egypt to tell the world about the importance of all heritage for all humanity, including Muslims, as a source of belonging and dignity. The pyramids, the sphinx, the temples and tombs in the Valleys of the Kings and Queens all of these bear witness to the wealth of humanity as a single whole. All this has been preserved and transmitted over time as an integral part of the identity and memory of people of all faiths I see this as a powerful counter argument to those who seek to destroy heritage in the name of fallacious lies. DG/2015/091 - Page 6
The same spirit has guided UNESCO over the last decade to publish six volumes of the Different Aspects of Islamic Culture, the most recent of which we have released a year ago, on the Foundations of Islam We benefited here from the participation of scholars from Al Azhar University, to whom I am deeply grateful - including Professor Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, as well as Dr Abdul Rahim, Abdul Rahman, who contributed to UNESCO s History of Humanity. Together, we have sent the same message a better understanding of Islam is essential to strengthen the shared values of humanity. I believe we can take this message even further, by stepping up efforts to support young people in tackling the challenges of our time. We see the rise of violent extremism. We see conflicts tearing societies apart, with the shocking loss of human life and the destruction of irreplaceable cultural heritage. We see cultural cleansing deployed in Iraq and Syria. We see persecution of minorities. Violent extremists target the cultural heritage that carries the soul of people, to strike societies at their core. We cannot defeat this by weapons only. We need also stronger education, and stronger discourses, including religious discourses, discourses of moderation and respect, and a broad coalition of leaders, intellectuals, scholars, to craft a counter narrative, to share the true messages of religion, of compasion and mercy. This echoes with the words of the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Ahmed al-tayeb: DG/2015/091 - Page 7
Some sects have used the terms and concepts of Islam to legitimize bloodshed. It is imperative that our scholars, politicians and thinkers dedicate their efforts to studying these concepts and highlighting the correct understanding of Shari a, drawing on the Islamic nation s experience during its finest eras. These people must clearly distinguish between the original concepts and ambiguous literal and partial interpretations, which in turn encourage revenge and self-centeredness. In the same spirit, I have been impressed by President s Sissi strong words, in this University, a few weeks ago, about the importance of the religious discourse that is in keeping with its times : we, Muslims, need to revolutionize our religion. he said, commending the contribution of the scholars of Al Azhar to this effect. These are not just words these are guidelines for youth. We all know that all this starts on the benches of school. This was the strong message of the great Egyptian writer and intellectual M. Taha Hussein, who graduated from this University, who became Minister of Knowledge of Egypt and revolutionized the education system in this country : "Education is as water and air, the right of every human being" he said. We must renew this promise today, with the same audacity. We must equip young people with new tools for new times, to live together in diverse, even sometimes violent, societies. This is, for instance, the spirit of the landmark initiative Egyptian Family House Beit Al Alila Al Misriah a joint programme of Al-Azhar and the Egyptian Coptic Church and I would like to congratulate both for their dedication to foster interfaith tolerance and coexistence. With cultural literacy, dialogue can become open, guided by the willingness to listen, and abilities to adapt to new contexts. We are not born with these skills we must learn them. DG/2015/091 - Page 8
This is the education we need for the 21st century. This is the meaning of what we call at UNESCO global citizenship education. This calls also for stronger media and information literacy, to help young people assess critically what they hear and see on the Internet, to reject the lies of those who distort religion. People speak of a new generation of digital natives I believe we need a new generation of digital citizens. This is why I went to the University of Baghdad in March, to launch a global campaign -- #Unite4Heritage -- to counter the propaganda of violent extremism, to strengthen the narrative of humanity united around shared values, and I invite all of you to join this campaign. In all this, it is equally important to fight against Islamophobia especially in schools, in textbooks, training teachers in the conviction we can never accept Muslims to be seen as suspicious, second-class citizens or scape goats in the streets or in the media of multicultural societies across the world. This echoes with the opening lines of the UNESCO Constitution: Since war begins in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed. This was crafted after a devastating world war - 70 years later, in this war on hearts and minds, these words have not aged a day. We must equip young people with the skills they need to fulfil their dreams, find decent jobs and their place as active citizens, fully involved in social and political life at all levels. It takes more than infrastructure and political arrangements to build a sustainable society this is about inclusion, social justice, this is about trust and hope in the future. DG/2015/091 - Page 9
This is the importance of our messages of peace and the cooperation between UNESCO and Al Azhar, in the spirit of the Holy Koran: (DG Speaks in Arabic) O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. Thank you. Shoukran. DG/2015/091 - Page 10