‘Let us sit down together to put aside our differences’: Full text of the speech of Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar at Bahrain Forum

‘Let us sit down together to put aside our differences’: Full text of the speech of Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar at Bahrain Forum

All praise is due to Allah. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon our Master, Prophet Muhammad, his Companions and his family. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon you all! I would like to start my remarks by expressing my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Your Majesty King Hamad and your honourable people, the people of the Kingdom of Bahrain, for inviting me to participate in this big, distinguished forum entitled ‘East and West for Human Coexistence’. It is such a historic forum for it brings together highly respected scholars, wise leaders, intellectuals, politicians, and media figures from the East and the West. Therefore, it deserves to go down in history and have its remarks and recommendations proudly recorded in gold letters, because it comes as a timely response to the modern-day challenges that have manifested themselves across the boundaries of time and place. For place-related considerations, the forum is being hosted in the Kingdom of Bahrain, whose history is proudly defined by its noble people who have always cherished diversity and acceptance of the other, no matter the differences in race, belief, thought or culture. This time-honoured legacy has provided the people of Bahrain with a distinctive ability