Congress of Leaders of World, Traditional Religions Praises Makkah Declaration for Promoting Peace

Secretary of the Muslim World League (MWL) Mohammed Bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa addressing the audience in the Kazakhstan conference in a recorded speech (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Secretary of the Muslim World League (MWL) Mohammed Bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa addressing the audience in the Kazakhstan conference in a recorded speech (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
20

Congress of Leaders of World, Traditional Religions Praises Makkah Declaration for Promoting Peace

Secretary of the Muslim World League (MWL) Mohammed Bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa addressing the audience in the Kazakhstan conference in a recorded speech (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Secretary of the Muslim World League (MWL) Mohammed Bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa addressing the audience in the Kazakhstan conference in a recorded speech (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The final statement of the seventh Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions praised the historic Makkah Declaration, which was signed by the grand Imams and Muftis of the Islamic world and scholars in Makkah, stressing its importance in promoting peace, dialogue, cooperation, and mutual respect, for the good of humanity.

The Congress brought together more than 100 delegations of major religious leaders influential on the international scene in the presence of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Secretary of the Muslim World League (MWL) and Chairman of the Association of Muslim Scholars Mohammed Bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa had assigned his deputy, Abdul Rahman Al-Zayd, to represent the international Islamic NGO at the Congress’s forum activities.

In a recorded speech that was played at the Congress, Al-Issa addressed some broad headlines about the importance of “common values.”

The MWL chief also stressed that religious diplomacy is an important and influential tool in the context of promoting these values.

In the videotaped speech, Al-Issa reiterated the importance of dialogue and conscious civilizational and cultural communication, saying most conflicts throughout human history have been the result of ideas on religions, which only express the orientations of their beholders.
Islamic leaders participating in the Congress’s activities praised the Makkah Declaration as a qualitative historical achievement and a significant turning point in contemporary Islamic history.

They said that the Declaration, in its legitimate and intellectual context, embraces all Islamic sects.

The Makkah Declaration was celebrated on various international platforms with its religious and cultural diversity and was adopted by the Islamic countries at the meeting of their foreign ministers in Niamey, Niger.

The document became a reference in training imams in several countries and was considered with great appreciation for Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, who sponsored its international conference held in Makkah in 2019, organized by MWL, and signed by 1,200 muftis and scholars and more than 4,500 Islamic thinkers.



Washington, Manama Sign Agreement on Peaceful Nuclear Energy Cooperation

US President Donald J. Trump (C-R) meets Bahrain's Prime Minister and Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa (C-L) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 16 July 2025.  EPA/AARON SCHWARTZ / POOL
US President Donald J. Trump (C-R) meets Bahrain's Prime Minister and Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa (C-L) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 16 July 2025. EPA/AARON SCHWARTZ / POOL
TT
20

Washington, Manama Sign Agreement on Peaceful Nuclear Energy Cooperation

US President Donald J. Trump (C-R) meets Bahrain's Prime Minister and Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa (C-L) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 16 July 2025.  EPA/AARON SCHWARTZ / POOL
US President Donald J. Trump (C-R) meets Bahrain's Prime Minister and Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa (C-L) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 16 July 2025. EPA/AARON SCHWARTZ / POOL

The US and Bahrain on Wednesday signed a cooperation agreement in the field of peaceful nuclear energy shortly before a meeting in the White House between US President Donald Trump and Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

“This is an important signing,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the signing ceremony with his Bahraini counterpart, Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani.

He added: “It serves as the first step towards a deeper civil nuclear cooperation – an example that the United States is prepared to be a partner with any nation on Earth that wants to pursue a civil nuclear program that clearly is not geared towards weaponization or threatening the security of their neighbors.”

Rubio did not mention by name Iran, which Israel and Washington accuse of seeking nuclear weapons.

“And this is a – no one better to do it with than such a strong partner that we’ve been working with for so long. This only strengthens our relationship,” Rubio said.

Later at a meeting with Trump, Bahrain's Crown Prince announced plans to invest more than $17 billion in the United States.

“We're very happy to be announcing $17 billion worth of deals that are coming to the United States,” said Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. He then joked with journalists at the White House, saying, “And this is real. These aren't fake deals.”

Asked whether Iran should return to the negotiating table with the US over its nuclear program, the Crown Prince said: “The ball is in their court. They are the ones who stand to benefit from a negotiation.”