The Grand Imam expresses his appreciation for the position of the Colombian President in announcing his commitment to implementing the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding the war criminals of the Zionist entity.

Colombia's First Lady expresses appreciation for the Grand Imam's efforts in spreading world peace.

Al-Azhar Grand Imam (GI) and MCE Chairman, Prof. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, received Mrs. Verónica Alcocer García, Colombia's First Lady on Sunday, at Al-Azhar HQ.

The Grand Imam welcomed Mrs. Verónica to Al-Azhar, stressing his appreciation for the Republic of Colombia. He also asked her to convey his greetings to Colombian President Gustavo Petro, and his appreciation for his position that emphasizes the necessity of respecting the decision of the ICC to implement the arrest warrant issued by the court regarding the war criminals of the occupying Zionist entity. The Grand Imam also praised President Gustavo Petro’s continuous demand to stop the genocide and massacres committed in Gaza.

The Grand Imam pointed out that Al-Azhar is based on spreading the message of Islam, which is to disseminate peace among all, as Islam made acquaintance, meeting and compassion the basis of human relations between people regardless of their beliefs, races and colors. He explained that if Allah Almighty had wanted, He would have made all people similar, but He wanted to make difference a universal law, and made the bonds of human brotherhood the governing factor in relations among the believers, and between believers and non-believers. The duties and obligations of this brotherhood entail that we elevate the value of man even in the case of war. 

His Eminence explained that war in Islam was only legislated to repel aggression, and that what we see of wars known historically as religious wars were not motivated by religious motives as much as they were driven by political ideologies that tried to hijack religion and exploit it. He added that this is happening now in Gaza through killing, committing genocide and the most heinous crimes under the cover of biblical religious texts that are interpreted in a distorted and incorrect manner to justify political goals to usurp the land and seize the rights of the Palestinians.

The Grand Imam pointed out that Al-Azhar has taken serious steps to spread the culture of peace and brotherhood inside and outside Egypt. For example, Al-Azhar took the initiative to establish the Egyptian Family House with Egyptian churches to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood and coexistence between Egyptians–– Muslims and Christians. From this initiative, Al-Azhar began to open up to religious and cultural institutions around the world, and made great efforts to build bridges of communication with institutions in the West. These efforts culminated in the signing of the historic Human Fraternity Document in Abu Dhabi with Pope Francis, which took a full year to work on before it was signed. The UN also adopted the anniversary of its signing on February 4 as the World Day of Human Fraternity.

His Eminence stressed that the main reason for what people are suffering from today is the policy of isolating the physical body completely from the soul and conscience. This global trend attempts to exclude, obscure and politicize religion in order to achieve material gains, foremost among which is justifying the manufacture of weapons and explosives despite the wars and conflicts they have caused.

Mrs. Veronica expressed her gratitude for meeting the Grand Imam and following up on his efforts to establish world peace, stressing her confidence in the ability of religious leaders to establish and spread peace through dialogue and rapprochement. She also indicated her agreement with his vision regarding the danger of the arms industry and that it is the main cause of the tragedy occurring in the world. She expressed her wish to stop this industry in order to eliminate poverty, conflict, hatred and wars. She also stressed that we must look at the world with a different vision than politicians to replace hatred with love, and wars with peace. She expressed the importance of the historical Human Fraternity Document and the world's need for this model of cooperation between religious figures.