Imam of Haram Keynotes 2015 Parliament of World Religions Conference

Over 10,000 people representing 80 countries and about 50 religious traditions converged at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah from October 15 through October 19, 2015.
 
What made the 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions extraordinary is the Muslim presence and participation.
 
Thanks to the efforts of President of the Parliament, Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, who is also the President of Sound Vision, as well as Prof. Ahmadullah Siddiqi, Imam Musa Azam, and Janaan Hashim from Sound Vision, the Parliament pulled a record number of Muslim attendees, speakers, and plenaries. More Muslims attended the Parliament than Catholics or Mormons.
 
Some of the prominent Muslim scholars and presenters included the Imam of Kabaa, Shaikh Dr. Saleh Abdullah bin Humaid, Dr. Tariq Ramadan, Shk. Omar Suleiman, Dawud Wharnsby, Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, Dr. Eboo Patel, Janaan Hashim, Sheikha Tamara Gray, Rami Nashashibi, Prof. Ahmadullah Siddiqi, and Dr. Hamid Slimi.
 
The engagement of these Muslim intellectuals and presenters at the largest conference of peace spoke volumes. It spoke louder than words.
 
Parliament 2015 also featured a number of Muslim-themed plenary sessions, considering that Muslims are at the receiving end of the rising Islamophobia and the brunt of war, terrorism, and poverty globally.
 
Moreover, Sound Vision and Burma Task Force booths in the Parliament’s bustling bazaar served as a welcoming hub to everyone on behalf of the Muslim community.
 
“As more than 40 percent of America listens to pulpits every week, we must not only preach the gospel of sharing more and consuming less. But also, we must do our best to influence the guiding institutions to become more serious in urgently developing the relevant public policies.” explained Imam Mujahid.
 
“Better public policies and better consumer behavior both are needed. And this is a major theme in the 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions,” Imam Mujahid concluded.
 
Sheikh Omar Suleiman, scholar in residence at Valley Ranch Islamic Center in Dallas, said, “We can wish well for one another. We can pray for one another. We can try to make sure that everyone enjoys the rights that we want to enjoy. We can collectively try to offer to people meaning in this life because the most dangerous person in the world is someone who has nothing to live for."
 
Dr. Tariq Ramadan, one of the most influential contemporary Muslim thinkers, remarked, “We have to take peace seriously and when we speak about peace, it takes effort.”
 
“This is a jihad, this is the right jihad. And I am calling every one of you to the jihad against poverty, to the jihad against hate,” said Dr. Ramadan.The Imam of the Grand Mosque of Makkah, Dr. Shaikh Salih Abdullah Humaid, called on the weekly Friday congregational prayers held at the Parliament of the World’s Religions to partake of kindness and ease in all matters. He also delivered the keynote address— the first time ever that a grand Imam of Makkah delivered a keynote for the Parliament.
 
“Kindness is everything,” said Shaikh Abdullah Humaid in his sermon.
 
“May Allah bless you to take matters by its best and ease. It is the true wisdom and proof of maturity of the mind.”
 
“Our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, states, ‘Whenever good manners enter anything it will beautify it and whenever it is removed from something, it will be made worse,’ ” the Imam advised.
 
“It is kindness – it is controlling one’s desires with patience and disciplining them away from violence.” [Source: based on several news sources]