According to Taghrib News Agency, the conference whose theme is “Islamic Ummah: Challenges, Strategies” will bring together 60 thinkers from Iran and other 100 from other countries including the U.S., the UK, France, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirate, Egypt, Oman, Sudan, Kuwait, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Syria, Tunis, Hong Kong, Turkey, Iraq, Gambia, Pakistan, Indonesia, ,Jordan , Qatar among others.
Challenges facing the World of Islam and ways to remove these challenges will be among topics to be reviewed by the participants in the conference," Ayatollah Taskhiri said.
He pointed out that the designation of the period from 12th-17th Rabi-al Awwal as the Unity Week is part of efforts by the Islamic Republic of Iran to unite the Islamic World.
Ayatollah Taskhiri noted that the Islamic Unity Conference is one of the most important programs of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought.
"The latest developments in the World of Islam, particularly the critical situation in the Gaza Strip and the consequences of the atrocities of the Zionist regime in the occupied territories will also be discussed by the participating delegates," he added. Ayatollah Taskhiri further said that the arrest warrant against the Sudanese president by The Hague-based court will also be discussed by the participants.
The Secretary General of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought said the conference will begin in Tehran on Friday with an opening speech delivered by Iran’s Expediency Council Chairman Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and will end with a closing speech by Iran's Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi.
Ayatollah Taskhiri also said the forum carries out cultural, media and educational programs and it sends delegations as preachers to international conferences around the world.Concurrent with the Tehran Islamic Unity conference there will be grand festivals at Iran’s frontier provinces on the auspicious birth anniversary of the Prophet Mohammad (s).
Members of the General Assembly of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought will also attend the conference held on the occasion of the Islamic Unity Week. According Islamic narrations of the Sunni Muslims, the 12th of Rabi al-Awwal is recognized as the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (s). On the other hand Islamic sources relied upon by Shia Muslims and based on the narrations from the Ahlul Bayt (The Prophet's pure progeny) the auspicious birthday of the Prophet was on 17th of Rabi-al-Awwal. In order to bridge this difference and use it as an opportunity to unite the ranks of Muslims, the founder of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Imam Khomeini designated the period of Maulid celebrations from 12th to the 17th of Rabi al-Awwal as the Islamic Unity Week. This dynamic concept aims to bring all Muslim schools of thought on the common platform of Islamic unity.
