The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday hailed the government for approving an Islamic forum in Damascus, calling the move a step toward a more relaxed security, political, intellectual and cultural environment.
The group also said the move was a hopeful sign from the relatively new regime of President Bashar Al Assad, who took power last year upon the death of his long-ruling father.
The approval for the moderate Islamic forum is the first such move by Syrian authorities since the Baath Party seized power about 39 years ago.
“Whatever the drives behind it may be, it indicates clearly the state political and intellectual vacuum which prevailed in the country,” said an official statement released by the group, a copy of which was obtained by Albawaba.com.
According to statement, all intellectuals and political movements had been ignored, particularly the broad-based Islamic movement, which clashed with the regime in the early 1980s and saw thousands of its members killed or jailed.
The group called for official recognition of Islam, including its ideological, intellectual and legislative dimensions, as a deeply rooted element in the community, “without overlooking any other national entity.”
“The Muslim Brotherhood, with its national and honorable legacy and its spread in the Islamic and Arab countries, has never been limited by frameworks, titles or names. In its assessment of any effort, the movement focuses on facts…and the effect of this effort on the people,” the statement added.
“May we ask…Almighty God to bless the founders of this forum and provide them with loyalty, wisdom and honesty. We wish them all success in their endeavors to explain the core of Islam and its general objectives,” said the statement - Albawaba.com
