Voice of Wisdom” honors the winners of Religious Tolerance

The Voice of Wisdom Center of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) organized a short film contest on (Religious Tolerance), and the General Secretariat of the Organization held a tribute ceremony on 27 October 2019 at its headquarters in Jeddah to honor the winners of the competition. OIC Secretary General’s Director of Cabinet and Senior Advisor Dr Abdullah bin Musa Al-Tayer, on behalf of Secretary General Dr Yousef Al-Othaimeen, gave the awards to the first three winners. The contest aims to transcend rhetoric and reach out to the youth and social network people with real examples of human-interest stories, Dr Al-Tayer said during the ceremony. Praising the fruitful conclusion of the contest, Dr Al-Tayer expressed hope the upcoming contests will be equally successful. The world people stand in unison today against extremist ideology, he stressed, pointing out that the OIC is an integral part of the global effort to counter extremist propaganda and promote coexistence, dialogue and mutual acceptance. Al Tayer said that the voice of wisdom has achieved remarkable development on social media platforms with an increase in followers from across the Islamic world. Al Tayer said that the next stage will shift from focusing on social networks alone, to launching physical activities, revealing that there is a planned initiative to be launched in Africa. He added that all colleagues at the General Secretariat of the Organization contribute effectively to the Voice of Wisdom Center. He explained that the Voice of Wisdom initiative is one of several OIC initiatives that will see the light of the day in the near future, which aims to cultivate hope, stressing that terrorism and violent extremism cannot be fought without spreading hope and optimism among Muslim youth. The Director of the Secretary-General’s Cabinet congratulated the winners of the competition and thanked the members of the Center and the new media company represented by Mr. Ammar Bakkar and his contributions to the Center.

The award winners were Mr Qada Humeidi (Algeria, first place), for his short film “human embryo”; Mr Khaled Basiouni (Egypt, second place), for his film “long good company”; and Mr Mohamed Salihou Abdullah (Nigeria, third place), for his “the human face of tolerance” short film. The competition aims to spread tolerance in the Islamic world, and it was launched in February 2018, with a budget of $ 10,000 and continued until June 2018. The competition was followed by tens of thousands of young people from the Islamic world, and the volume of interaction with the videos participating in the competition reached two and a half million between interactions and comments. The competition saw the participation of dozens of Muslim youth from various countries of the Islamic world in addition to China. Thirty participants qualified in the final stages and the three best works were selected based on the decision of the specialized judging committee appointed by the Voice of Wisdom Center As for the winning works, the first place video titled “Mudghah” “human embryo” by the Algerian producer, Kada Hamidi, reflects the influential meaning of positivity in society and the meaning of the Muslim having positive energy in his social environment. The second place a video entitled: “long good company” by producer Khaled Bassiouni, embodied one of the wonderful stories of tolerance that took place in Egyptian society between two Muslim and Christian families, and the video reflected the intensity of the interdependence between the two families and how all Egyptians share the joys and sorrows of one nation as Muslims and Christians. The third place video titled (the human face of tolerance) by Nigerian producer Mohamed Salihu Abdullah, embodied the story of an imam of a mosque in the Plateau region of Nigeria. The imam Sheikh Abdullah Abu Bakr rescued more than 300 Christians who took refuge in his mosque after an attack on his village, and the video reflects the values of tolerance during the darkest circumstance that a society passes through.

The fifth annual meeting of the Group of Strategic Vision “Russia - Islamic World” was held in the Russian city of Ufa under the slogan “ 50th Anniversary of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation ... Interfaith Harmony: The Experience of Russia and the OIC Countries”. The forum was on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, was attended by more than 70 delegates from the members of the Strategic Vision Group (Russia - the Islamic World), Russia, foreign countries, heads of international organizations and many other guests. Ambassador Samir Bakr Dhiab, Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine and Jerusalem Affairs represented the OIC Secretary General Dr. Yusef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen during the event. Other top dignitaries that graced the occasion include the Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of Russia Nikolai Zhuravlev, and the Deputy Foreign Minister, Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov. For his part, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, in his welcome address delivered by Ambassador Diab, expressed the readiness of the OIC to intensify cooperation with Russia, stressing that the Russian Federation, which is an observer at the OIC, is an important partner of the Organization in the international arena. He also highly appreciated the holding of the events dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Organization during the Group meeting in Ufa and noted that this, without a doubt, clearly demonstrates the dynamically developing relations. The participants of the Forum warmly welcomed the address of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. In his message, Russian President noted that Russia actively and successfully cooperates with the OIC in many areas, pointing to the importance of the Russian Federation and the members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation “coordinating efforts to counter global threats and challenges, resolve regional conflicts and solve various humanitarian problems.” Welcoming participants, the Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov noted the merit of the Muslim Ummah of the Republic “in strengthening interfaith peace and harmony” in Russia, stressing that “Bashkortostan from the religious point of view is a model for all multinational and multiconfessional Russia”. For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed in his message “appreciation for the fruitful interaction with the organization in order to find effective solutions to the urgent problems of our time”. Mr Lavrov pointed to the necessities imposed by the current turbulent conditions in international relations towards “promoting inter-religious harmony as an essential component of maintaining global and regional stability.” In his speech, Chairman of GSV “RussiaIslamic world”, President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov noted that Russia and the Muslim world “should more actively use the potential of bilateral relations”, stressing that “together, we will be able to set the order based on equality, respect for international law and justice faster” . In this regard, he recalled that the main objective of the Group is to contribute in every possible way to the further rapprochement of Russia with the Islamic world, with an emphasis on building up economic, scientific, technical and cultural-humanitarian cooperation. Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the OIC Ramazan Abdulatipov pointed out that the activities of the

Group conducted jointly with the OIC, in particular the holding of business summits and other international forums, is an important component of Russia’s interaction with the member-states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, stressing that the creation of the GSV “played a role in shaping the policy of a multipolar world”. He also noted that the “Muslim vector” is a significant reserve of the foreign policy of the Russian Federation. The participants of the meeting congratulated the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which is, in fact, the “collective voice of the Islamic world”, on its half-century anniversary, noting that for 50 years it has been resolutely and regularly defending the interests of the Muslim Ummah in the international arena. The participants of the meeting also noted that the OIC still has great potential to further strengthen its authority both in Islamic countries and in the world as a whole. In this regard, they supported the efforts of the leadership of the GSV “Russia-Islamic world” to increase cooperation with the OIC member-states. The Forum also included awarding the winners of of the prize of the President of the Strategic Vision Group, Rustam Minikhanov, and in the framework of the forum, a ceremony was held for the winners of the award, which was received this year by the Religious Board of Muslims of the Republic of Tatarstan, and Russian Muftic Council.