The Muslim World League launched on Tuesday the first phase of its international programs to train imams and preachers in Africa on the Makkah Document.

This comes amid broad governmental support as a major tool for promoting coexistence among religions and cultures and deepening community ties among world countries.

The event kicked off at the Jamia Mosque in Kenya’s capital Nairobi and was attended by Kenyan Minister of Defense Aden Bare Duale and leaders of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, which is the official umbrella for all Muslims and their institutions in the country.

Duale hailed the “crucial” programs and underscored the importance of imams to promote coexistence among societies and religious groups.

“Imams need to advocate for tolerance and peace among all religions. They are key to government's efforts to maintain order and stability and to confront terrorism. Our country and economy cannot develop in case of insecurity or societal instability.”

He referred to the “freedom of worship”, which is stipulated in the Kenyan constitution and underlined the need to beware of terrorist extremist groups.

“Extremist groups want to use religion to harm Islam, and we, as Muslim believers, must escalate the fight against terrorism,” Duale stressed.

The first program targets more than 180 participating imams, who will receive intensive training on dialogue, tolerance, coexistence, citizenship, positive integration in their countries, rejecting hatred and civilizational clash, and other cultural aspects from the content of the Makkah Declaration. 

More than 1,200 prominent Muslim scholars and 4,500 Islamic intellectuals from 139 countries signed the document in 2019. 

It represents a historic constitution that strives to entrench the values of coexistence and achieve peace and harmony.