Fez to host seminar on cultural and religious dialogue

2006-12-21

Morocco's ancient city of Fez will host an international seminar on cultural and religious dialogue in January. This will be an opportunity to announce Fez as the Capital of Islamic Culture of 2007.

By Imane Belhaj for Magharebia in Casablanca—21/12/06

[Getty Images] Fez

The Moroccan city of Fez will host an international academic seminar between January 8th and January 10th next year on the dialogue and co-existence of religions and civilisations. It is being organised by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) http://www.isesco.org.ma/ in co-operation with the Al Zawiya Al Khadra Association for Education and Culture, and the University of Karaouine.

This event will be an opportunity to announce the city of Fez as ISESCO's capital of Islamic culture 2007. There will be 25 academics representing Morocco from among 40 others from Arab, Muslim and European countries.

The seminar will underline the role of Arab Islamic culture can play in furthering religious dialogue and strengthening cultural diversity. Participants will issue "The Declaration of Fez" on religious and cultural dialogue, which will be submitted to the United Nations.

According to the organizers, the seminar, entitled "The University of Al Karaouine and the dialogue of religions and civilisations", will call for the activation of the role of modern Islamic universities in instilling values of cultural diversity, dialogue and mutual understanding.

Participants will particularly discuss the contributions of the University of Al Karaouine in its capacity as a centre of Islamic culture to the linking of civilisations and to religious dialogue.

The University of Al Karaouine is considered one of the oldest universities in the world. It began as an educational annex to the Karaouine mosque which was built by Fatima Bint Mohamed Al Fahri in 859 A.D. (245 H).

Many Western scholars have graduated from there, and the mosque and the annexed educational institute have remained a centre for intellectual, cultural and religious activity for nearly a thousand years. Sylvester II (Ghibert Dauriac), who held the office of Pope from 999-1003, studied there. He is credited with the introduction of Arabic numerals in Europe.

The Jewish physician and philosopher Musa Ben Maymun (Maimonides) also spent several years teaching there. Islamic scholars from Fez who studied at the university include philosopher and sociologist Ibn Khaldoun and Lahcen Al-Din Ben Al Khatib, Ibn Arabi and Ibn Marzouq.

Mohamed Adib Al Salawi, general coordinator of the seminar, told Magharebia that the opening of Sheikh Al Tawadi Ibn Suda Al Mari library in Fez will be announced during the seminar.

"A call has been made to all writers, researchers and university teaching staff to contribute to enrich this library with their writings, or with books and publications which they have no use for, with the objective of spreading knowledge," Al Salawi said.