Hundreds of Muslim scholars, thinkers, and preachers numbering over 1300 from 140 countries across the world, including Nigeria, have called for unity of the Muslim world to address wrongful profiling and exclusion.

They made the call in Makkah, Saudi Arabia at the ongoing two-day International Conference on Islamic Unity, with the theme, “Perils of Labelling and Exclusion” organised by the Muslim World League (MWL) with the support of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

The Saudi Arabia King Salman, represented by Governor of Makkah, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, stressed the need for the scholars and preachers across the world to remove misconceptions about Islam and Muslims through dialogue.

“Muslims must set aside their petty differences and to work together to achieve a great and prosperous future, for Islam to fulfill its obligations to the world progress,” he said.

Also, Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, who is also the head of the MWL Supreme Council, said the teachings of Islam categorically reject all forms of discrimination.

He, therefore, urged the Muslims to forge unity among themselves  and do away with rivalries, petty differences, divisions, and factionalism.

The MWL Secretary-General, Sheikh Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Alissa, said the problems being witnessed in today’s world emanate from a lack of open dialogue and petty rivalries between sects and denominations.

For his part, the secretary-general, Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen, commended Saudi Arabia’s successful experience against extremism, violence, and terrorism, saying the steps the kingdom has taken to counter this negative trend have transformed it into a reliable reference.

Speaking on “Concept of exclusion and ostracism”, Dr. Sayed Mohammed Al-Tabtabai, a Professor of Islamic Jurisprudence at Kuwait University, called for the protection of Muslims from falling into the temptation of abandoning the society as Daily Trust reported him saying.

The Secretary-General at Islamic Research Academy of Al-Azhar, Egypt, Dr. Mohyldin Afefe Ahmed Abdulmaged, who spoke on “Apathy and Historical Buildups”, said that that ijtihad has limitation and that the text of Sharia (Islamic laws), which is independent of place and time should be adhered to.