Rabat – The higher council of the Mohammed VI Foundation for African Ulemas will hold a meeting from December 8 to 10 in Morocco’s spiritual capital Fez, bringing together 300 ulemas from all over the continent as part of its religious diplomacy in Africa.
In an official statement released by the foundation on Tuesday, the meeting, held in accordance with the Dahir relating to the Foundation, will be devoted to examining the foundation’s action plan for 2018, as well as to debating major themes such as the values of moderate Islam and the shared African cultural heritage.
This regular session will see the participation of 300 Islamic scholars from 32 African countries where the foundation is represented. More than 80 women will take part of the meeting, 20 of whom are Moroccan.
The work of the Council will bring focus on two axes. The first will concern the adoption of the objectives fixed in article 4 of the Dahir, which are the preservation of the common religious and spiritual constants between Morocco and the African countries, the promotion of the authentic rules of Sharia and the principles of tolerant Islam, the revitalization of the common African Islamic cultural heritage, and the consolidation of the historical relations that bind Morocco to other African countries.
The second axis of this meeting will focus on the examination and voting of the annual draft program for the year 2018 and the process of implementation of the work of the four standing committees in accordance with article 18 of the Dahir, namely the Committee for Scientific and Cultural Activities, the Sharia Studies Committee, the Revitalization of African Islamic Heritage Committee and the Communication, Cooperation and Partnership Committee.
As part of its religious diplomacy in Africa, Morocco continues to promote its moderate version of Islam as a bulwark against extremism and establishes itself as leader, providing training for the hundreds of imams from Africa.
In 2015, Morocco created the religious institute, Mohammed VI Foundation for African Ulemas, in order to promote a tolerant Islam and curb the growing threat of terrorism.
The religious institute aims to unite religious scholars and imams of the kingdom with those in other African countries in an effort to serve the interests of Islam. It advocates tolerance and promote research and studies in Islamic thought and culture.
Under the supervision of King Mohammed VI, the institute intends to inculcate the values of moderate Islam as it has always been practiced in Morocco (based on the Ashaari doctrine and the Malikite school of jurisprudence) to the new generations of imams and preachers.
