The events of “Common values Between Islam and Christianity” Program, organized by the World Organization for al-Azhar Graduates, has been concluded. The program was convened by “Al-Azhar Ambassadors” Project, as a representative of the Organization, in cooperation with the Franciscan Cultural Center, for two consecutive days.
The conclusion was attended by Prof. Ibrahim al-Hudhud, the Academic Advisor of the Organization, Dr. Hamdallah al-Safti, Head of Academic and Cultural Affairs Department and General Supervisor of al-Azhar Ambassadors Project at the Organization, as well as Priest Milad Shehata, Director of the Franciscan Cultural Center in Cairo, Dr. Michael Medhat, Professor of Philosophy at the Faculty of Arts, Helwan University, Dr. Shaza Gamal, Professor of Tourism and Archeology at Helwan University, besides a number of priests, public figures, university professors and students.
During the first session of the program, Prof. Ibrahim al-Hudhud said: virtues and ethics are considered as commonalities among all religions. Indeed, every religion urges its followers to adhere to moral values, as we have never encountered a religion permitting killing the infallible souls, or lying or treachery or injustice. As a matter of fact, all religions glorify the ethical values and warn against aggression, as the sources of knowledge of the believers of each heavenly faith are summed up in the divine revelation, sense and sensibility. In fact, the human intellect is the planner of the internal issues, while the religious laws compromise the intellect with the external circumstances.
In the same vein, Dr. al-Hudhud highlighted that ethical and moral values clash with inclinations; anyone with whims is, usually, a rebel against the ethical values and surpasses them, due to his/her desires to go beyond committing to virtues and values.
On his part, Dr. Michael Medhat underlined the importance of looking for common values which are the basis for building strong and sustainable relationships between individuals and societies. Hence, enhancing common values, attaining an understanding and achieving peaceful coexistence all over the world are a must.
In the same context, Dr. Medhat clarified that common values contribute to fostering relationships and building bridges of cooperation, via equality, freedom and morals. Certainly, moral values are tools to diagnose some of the social diseases, they are the set that give meaning for existence and summon peoples’ cultures.
Dr. Hamdallah al-Safti concluded the program with a lecture on the crisis of values in contemporary reality. He stated that the crisis of values in contemporary society lies in the absence of moral and humane values. This is, mostly, due to the modern pedagogy methods which focus on materiality and ignore moral values, leading to the emergence of a human being with a neutral attitude towards the social issues. This, inevitably, makes Man’s decisions, concerning ethics, religion, social and national relationships, governed by sentimental reactions, racial prejudice and psychological complexes.
Al-Safti stressed that the crisis of values at present emerges from the impurity of the values resources, the explicit extremism of pedagogy theories in defining the values’ meanings and the superficiality of public culture. As such, this what motivates us to emphasize the importance of religions as sources of determining the moral values; indeed, moral values derived from religion are considered absolute and constant, since they are part of the religion.
The program was concluded by presenting certificates of honor to the participants, including professors and students.
