President al-Assad receives delegation of Islamic clergymen in Damascus on the occasion of the holy month of Ramdan

Damascus, SANA-President Bashar al-Assad received on Monday a delegation of Islamic clergymen in Damascus on the occasion of the holy month of Ramdan  in the presence of Endowments’ Minister, Mohammad Abdel-Sattar al-Sayyed.

President al-Assad’s speech concentrated on the role of the religious institution, concepts and terms that would be proposed sometimes with contents that contradict the ideology, and the importance of the clergymen to adopt idioms in a proper way that suits the essence of religion and its purposes.

In this regard, President al-Assad referred to the true concept of the religious reform and renovation terms, affirming that scholars of the religious institution in Syria have crossed important stages in the development of this institution and the reform of wrong concepts that penetrated among the clergymen since long time, and this has directly contributed to reforming the society.

The President considered that the deep notion of the renovation term depends on “our ability to absorb from religion what we can of knowledge in light of the principle that Quran is for all ages and all circumstances.”

President al-Assad also talked about the principle of “Shura,” which means in English ( consultation ), considering that it is very important to propose wider ideas which come in the interest of the whole nation and society, affirming the importance of returning to the main source of legislation, which are the Quran and Hadith.

The President considered that religious institutions in the Islamic world face big and accelerated challenges in terms of ideology or doctrine, particularly the intellectual war, so, these institutions are in need to use equal tools, like education and ethics, traditions and postulates in order to strike the poisonous thinking in society.

The clergymen, for their part, talked about the great development in the religious institution with all its sectors, forums and scholars through a method outlined by President al-Assad in his repeated meetings with the clergymen to preserve the moderation of Islam and Syria as a civilized beacon.

Mazen Eyon