CIMS: General Discussion and Conclusions

On Saturday 20th August AMI held a Centre for Intra-Muslim Studies (CIMS) discussion entitled ”General Discussion and Conclusions” . The meeting was attended by a considerable number of Shia and Sunni scholars together with intellectuals and community leaders belonging to different backgrounds and schools of thought. The topic was an open discussion on the past year of Sunni-Shia discussios, the conclusions of each meeting, and on the future of CIMS programmes.

The event was commenced by the recitation of Quran by Shaikh Mahmood al-Fozi, followed by a brief introduction presented by Dr. Mohammad Khalid (Director of CIMS) and a report from Dr. Khurram Bashir who had visited Iran recently which was followed by a short Q&A session.

Dr. Mohammad Khalid then presented a report about the previous years’ meetings, which he remarked had been successful in discussing sensitive topics with regard to present day Sunni-Shi’i controversies; as well as offering conclusions that provided viable and agreed resolutions. This was noted as the largest success of the meetings to date as many misconceptions which were causing division between the two units of Muslim Ummah had been reinterpreted, resulting in a new understanding and agreement between them.

Ulama and intellectuals had expressed their views and appreciation of the services offered by CIMS and Al-Mahdi Institute for the last two and half years, in terms of organising Sunni-Shia dialogues for the sake of genuinely understanding and exploring ways how to work together and face challenges of the modern era which are common to both madhahib.

Many suggested to continue the programmes discussing further modern day issues and challenges and the group concluded with a revised initiative for future CIMS discussions involving media representation to spread conclusions from the meetings to grass-roots communities and the wider public. The event was concluded by the final remarks and dua of a great scholar Sayyid Rafique Ahmed Shah, one of the senior leaders of Jamiat Ulama of Britain.

To read an overview of the past year of CIMS click here

To view more photos from the discussion click here