League of Islamic Universities Urges Nations Allowing Quran Burning to Restore Cultural Awareness

Snapshot of the attendees at the conference “Framing Liberties According to Islamic Values and Principles of International Law” in Rabat, Morocco (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Snapshot of the attendees at the conference “Framing Liberties According to Islamic Values and Principles of International Law” in Rabat, Morocco (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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League of Islamic Universities Urges Nations Allowing Quran Burning to Restore Cultural Awareness

Snapshot of the attendees at the conference “Framing Liberties According to Islamic Values and Principles of International Law” in Rabat, Morocco (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Snapshot of the attendees at the conference “Framing Liberties According to Islamic Values and Principles of International Law” in Rabat, Morocco (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The League of Islamic Universities convened representatives from Islamic jurisprudence bodies, major universities, experts in international law, as well as academics and thinkers, to deliberate on issues of freedom and their real-world implications and practice.

This took place during a scholarly international conference titled, “Framing Liberties According to Islamic Values and Principles of International Law.”

The conference was held in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, and was inaugurated by the president of the League, Sheikh Mohammed Al-Issa.

The meeting takes place against the backdrop of increasing crimes committed against Islamic and religious sanctities in general, under the pretext of “freedom of opinion and expression.”

The conference included scholarly sessions that hold significant importance in clarifying this noble human value, which holds great significance in Islam, and in establishing the desired academic role in education and intellectual stimulation towards a future that fosters more solidarity, understanding, and respect among followers of religions and civilizations.

This aims to address the narratives of cultural clash and religious conflict.

In his opening speech at the conference, Al-Issa emphasized that a rational approach does not accept that the legislative understanding of freedoms remains unchecked without a framework that upholds values and preserves rights, particularly the dignity of others, especially their sanctities.

According to Al-Issa, this framework also prevents the ignorant and the malicious from employing freedom of expression in a way that harms world peace and the harmony of societies.

A final statement was issued by the conference, in which the participants agreed that honoring and respecting humanity is a common ground among followers of religions and cultures.

They emphasized that nurturing and developing humans spiritually, intellectually, and materially forms the cornerstone of constructing civilized societies aimed at repairing the world and bringing happiness to individuals.

As per the communique, freedom is considered a fundamental human value guaranteed to everyone, like other values and principles, but is neither arbitrary nor synonymous with chaos and recklessness.

Moreover, the final statement emphasized the call to countries that have permitted the burning of copies of the Holy Quran to “reexamine their constitutional concepts, restore their cultural awareness, and recall the lessons of history.”

It said that those countries should avoid conflating the humane meaning of freedoms with the chaos that detracts from that meaning, especially by allowing the concept of freedoms to deteriorate into insulting the dignity of others and inciting futile conflicts between nations and peoples solely based on religious and ideological differences.



Venice Carnival Opens with Biodegradable Streamers and Ode to Casanova

 Revelers participate in the celebrations of the historic Venetian Carnival in front of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP)
Revelers participate in the celebrations of the historic Venetian Carnival in front of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP)
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Venice Carnival Opens with Biodegradable Streamers and Ode to Casanova

 Revelers participate in the celebrations of the historic Venetian Carnival in front of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP)
Revelers participate in the celebrations of the historic Venetian Carnival in front of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP)

The opening weekend of Carnival in Venice culminated with a water procession along the Grand Canal that finished in front of the Rialto Bridge with a flourish of colorful streamers and confetti — all completely biodegradable.

Venice’s Carnival brings thousands of people to the lagoon city to watch the water procession, one of the event’s highlights, and check out people in elaborate costumes and masks who wander the narrow alleys and gather in Piazza St. Marco to be photographed.

The popular event forces authorities to designate some alleyways as one-way, to keep pedestrians moving.

This year’s Carnival celebrations, which run through March 4, are dedicated to the famed philanderer Giacomo Casanova, who was born in Venice 300 years ago.