The Executive Council
of the World Muslim Congress (Motamar Al-Alam Al-Islami), in collaboration
with the Islamic Centre of Sri Lanka, held a grand Muslim Assembly
in Colombo at the Hilton Hotel on December 18 and 19, 2002 which
was attended by more than 900 Muslim and non-Muslim guests, including
WMC Council members. The star event in this history-making assemblage
was the inspiring address delivered by Sri Lanka’s dynamic Prime
Minister, Mr. Ranil Wickremesanghe, who paid rich tributes to Islam
and quoted from the Holy Quran God’s command that “let there arise
out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining
what is right and not what is wrong”. He spoke about the contributions
of Muslims to human civilization and commended the role of the Muslims
of Sri Lanka in national life. The theme of the Assembly was “Justice
and World Peace”. The keynote address was delivered by WMC Assistant
Secretary-General Dr. Hamid bin Ahmed al-Riffai. The WMC’s Vice-President,
Mr. M.H. Mohamed, Minister of Western Region Development, and President
of Sri Lanka’s Islamic Centre (which hosted the conference with
WMC) addressed the gathering on the importance which Islam, as a
religion of peace, attached to justice unto all of humankind. The
WMC President, Dr. Abdullah Bin Omar Nasseef, spoke about the part
played by the WMC in spreading Islam’s message of peace through
inter-Faith dialogue. Among the galaxy of speakers who spoke in
the Assembly were the leaders of Buddhist, Christian and Hindu religions
of Sri Lanka; they laid stress on inter-Faith cooperation to promote
peace. Other speakers included Mr. A. H. Mohammad Azwer, Minister
for Parliamentary Affairs of Sri Lanka, Mr. Mir Nawaz Khan Marwat,
Asstt. Secretary-General, WMC, Mr. Qutubuddin Aziz, Chairman, WMC
Media Centre, Mr. Kamil Sharif, Dr. Habash and Dr. Mohamad R. Haniffa
of Sri Lanka Islamic Centre. The WMC Secretary-General, Raja Muhammad
Zafarul Haq, presented the Colombo Declaration 2002 of the WMC Assembly
on Dec. 19, 2002 which was unanimously passed. The outgoing office
bearers of the WMC were re-elected for another 5-year-term. The
WMC’s latest publication, History of the WMC, published by WMC Media
Centre, Karachi, was distributed among the delegates and many guests
and was highly appreciated. Given below is the full text of the
WMC’s Colombo Declaration 2002: |