Attacks on Spirituality among World’s Challenges, Muslim Cleric Tells Russian Bishop

IQNA – Muslim and Orthodox clerics held an interfaith dialogue meeting, discussing challenges of today’s world, including attacks against spirituality.

Hojat-ol-Islam Mohammad Mehdi Imanipour, president of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization, met and held talks with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in the Russian capital recently.

“Today, the world is experiencing a deep crisis due to the attacks on spirituality, one of the manifestations of these anti-spiritual processes being observed in the Paris Olympics,” Imanipour said.

“The promotion of a deviant and unhealthy lifestyle is one of the crises of today's world,” he added.

The world is going through bitter days, including the massacre of defenseless people in Gaza, which would have elicited a strong reaction from international communities if it had occurred elsewhere, regretted the cleric.

“We are now on the eve of the International Day of Peace, but the world is devoid of the meaning of peace, and the events of these days are unprecedented in history,” Imanipour said.

In the modern world, anti-religious currents are observed, including at the political level, because they do not want young people to turn to religion, but the result is the opposite, added the cleric.

Dialogues between Islam and Orthodox Christianity have always continued successfully and constructively, he said, adding that among the planned dialogue topics are family issues, women and youth, and the problems of oppressed people around the world.

For his part, the Russian Orthodox bishop said that it is “good that the tradition of our regular meetings within the framework of interfaith dialogues is progressing successfully.”

“Here, it is necessary to honor the memory of my friend and brother, the late Ayatollah Taskhiri, with whom we started developing this plan 25 years ago,” he added.

Regarding the current deviant issues happening, it must be said that Satan always sows the seeds of discord and sometimes tempts representatives of religions to participate in such conflicts. However, my belief is that we clearly understand that these are dark satanic forces at work, and true representatives of religion can in no way participate in strengthening or developing negative trends in relations between countries and people, especially between religions, noted the bishop.

“These bilateral dialogues are not tools for advancing some diplomatic interests but rather a genuine interest in listening and understanding each other to create ways of joint response between Muslims and Orthodox Christians, including representatives of Islam in your country and the Russian Orthodox Church, regarding global events,” he added.

“Therefore, our dialogues do not serve the decorative function of dialogue for the sake of dialogue, and I believe that through these dialogues, both sides strive for a better understanding of each other and the formation of common positions on important issues,” he said.

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