Peace our greatest weapon: Al-Sudais

There some individuals who misuse Islam to achieve personal goals and spread violence and terrorism, said Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, chief imam of Makkah’s Grand Mosque. He was addressing the Dubai International Peace Convention on Saturday.
“Such misuse is incorrect as Islam seeks to build and not destroy, to improve life for humankind and not worsen it.”
The three-day convention, which concluded on Saturday, attracted about 70,000 people of varied nationalities from across the UAE and the wider Gulf region.
Notably, Dutch filmmaker Arnaud Van Dorn’s son embraced Islam and changed his name to Ali on second day of the convention. Arnaud Van Dorn had embraced Islam last year.
“Peace in Islam represents health and security. Peace also means a collective and individual behavior, which ensures that Muslims live for the betterment of society through commitment to goodness, harmony, dialogue and compassion while rejecting violence, corruption and terrorism,” Al-Sudais said.
“If the world takes pride in its mass destruction weapons, then Islamic nations are proud of their greatest weapon — peace,” he said.
The number of people who joined “The Peace Pledge” from around the world on various social sites reached over 250,000. The event witnessed significant participation of women.
The sessions and lectures led by India’s Zakir Naik witnessed unprecedented participation of fans from a cross-section of nationalities.