Turkey's top religious authority Mehmet Görmez, the head of Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (DIB), called on the Islamic world to wake up and question itself in order to heal past wounds and re-establish peace and security. Addressing the envoys of member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the capital city Ankara late Monday, Görmez urged Muslim countries to "mobilize common sense, be awakened, remain diligent and take initiatives."
Stressing that the level of morale in the Islamic regions around the world during Ramadan has fallen into bitterness and gloom in recent years due to ongoing terrorism incidents, Görmez said: "The social crises that have been experienced in the Islamic world over quite some time, as well as political and military tensions and attempts to blame the conflicts on various religious sects, have caused serious, irreparable harm to the security of our region and the Islamic world."
The top religious authority emphasized that both the Islamic world and Islam itself, as a world religion, are faced with a security threat. "The crux of Islam and its theological structure, as well as its principles of justice and compassion that embrace all of humanity, are being perpetually confronted with a security threat due to the lack of the authentic, religious knowledge necessary to steer Islamic belief and faith toward the peaceful coexistence between Islam and humanity that is conducive to the survival of human beings," Görmez said.
Asserting that it is necessary to properly educate the new generations in order to ensure peace and security across the Islamic world, Görmez said that the educational systems in Muslim countries around the world should be reformed. "The most important step toward securing our future is to reform our educational systems and revise the religious mechanisms and institutions that offer religious education," he asserted.
The religious authority also said: "The solution, above all else, is to preserve justice and ensure its survival. We must establish proper relationships with ourselves, with our God, with others and with the entire universe. It is important to avoid straying from the book's path of knowledge and wisdom while establishing those relationships. It is necessary to attain the power, after doing all of that. The solution is to devote ourselves to the power of morality, not to the morality of power."
Görmez emphasized the need to explain to the entire world that human beings are much more valuable than oil and energy. "Today we have to make an effort to end the bloodbath and the shedding of tears to prevent the eradication of generations to come while preserving the material and moral riches of our geographic region. We have to be able to explain to the entire world that a single drop of human blood is much more valuable than millions of barrels of oil," he said. The top religious authority commented on the recent terrorist attack targeting Muslims in London as well, saying: "On this occasion, I condemn the event in which a minibus was driven into a congregation of people as they exited a mosque after the Tarawih prayer yesterday in London. I do offer my condolences to those who passed away," he said.
