Sheikh Qaradawi is one of the prominent speakers to address the conference

By Fathi Abdulsatar, IOL Staff

KHARTOUM, December 13 (IslamOnline.net) – Muslim and Arab intellectuals and scholars open Saturday, December 13, a conference on forging a unified Islamic discourse in addressing the West.

The three-day event, held under the banner of "Islam and the West in a Changing World", will tackle democracy, human rights, globalization, terrorism and dealing with the other.

Abu Bakr Soliman, the director of the executive office of Sudan's ministry of waqf [religious endowments], told IslamOnline.net that the conference was primarily aimed at reaching a common ground on how to communicate with the West.

He said that the gathering has brought together a variety of scholars and intellectuals from the Arab and Muslim world.

Asked whether the conference would be regarded as a conciliatory gesture to the Western hegemony and a give-up to the fait accomplie imposed by the West, Soliman stressed that the dialogue with the West does in no way reflect Arab submission.

"We are just trying to broaden the bloc of the western countries that see Islam in positive light, given that they are divided over Islam and Muslims due to stereotypes passed on to them," he elaborated.

The Sudanese official also forecast a "positive feedback" on the conference from the West, given the high-profile representation of Muslim and Arab scholars, who would put their heads together to come up with recommendations and a future agenda.

He denied there was a specific vision imposed on the conference, asserting it has no political agenda, being held shortly after parlays between Khartoum and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and under U.S. pressures.

Among the Muslim dignitaries that would attend the conference are prominent scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Sheikh Salman al-Ouda, Abdullah Omar Nasief, Tarik al-Bishri, Esam al-Erian, Ahmad Kamal Abul Magd and Abdul Magied an-Naggar.