Adopt Morocco's model to end religious violence in Africa, Rifki urges leaders

The Secretary-General of Mohammed VI Foundation of African Oulema, Dr Si Mohamed Rifki, said Morocco is a country that is stabilized by a wisdom of religion “miracle model”, calling on African countries plagued by a religious crisis to borrow a leaf.

Rifki made the call on Wednesday at a press conference ahead of the international symposium organised by the Superior Council of Imams, Mosques and Islamic Affairs of Côte d’Ivoire and Mohammed VI Foundation.

Rifki said the ‘miracle model’ had been keeping Muslims and Christians peacefully together in Morocco, adding that religious violence was not in African culture.

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He, therefore, urged the Oulema and religious leaders, especially those from the Sahel region, to apply the same wisdom in their respective countries.

The Secretary-General also revealed that the foundation has branches in 34 countries of Africa irrespective of whether the countries are Muslim or Christian majority.

Also speaking, the President of the Scientific Committee of the foundation, Dr Mohammed Adiouare, said the inter-faith dialogue will give participants the opportunity to realise peace in their respective countries.

He said the event will focus on five thematic areas that include family, schools, Civil Society, religious leaders and others.

He also noted that radicalisation, extremism and fundamentalism are great problems faced by African societies, thus the need for a multidimensional approach to eradicate them.

“Which means, we have to think about another way to join efforts with authorities and religious leaders to defeat it,” he said.

Over 600 Muslim/Christian experts and researchers have converged on Abidjan, the capital of Côte d’Ivoire, to champion interreligious dialogue in the country and across Africa.

The international symposium started on Wednesday 23 and will end on Friday 25, 2022.

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