2nd February, 2016
The World Council of Churches has welcomed the release of a declaration by Muslim leaders on the rights of religious minority groups in Muslim-majority countries.
The Marrakesh Declaration on the Rights of Religious Minorities in Predominantly Muslim Majority Communities was signed by more than 200 Muslim scholars and intellectuals from more than 120 countries as well as representatives of Islamic and international organisations and other religious leaders at a conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, last month.
Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, described the document as "timely" and "significant". "With this declaration, Muslim leaders are showing the way toward a future of living together on a shared platform of equal rights, mutual care and respect," he said.
The summit was held to mark the 1,400 anniversary of the Charter of Medina, which the declaration describes as a constitutional contract between the Prophet Muhammad and the people of Medina which guaranteed religious liberty.
~ www.marrakeshdeclaration.org
– DAVID ADAMS
