Mohamed Khatami Gives a Philosophical Political Religious Lecture at the BA
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Alexandria—
The BA hosted the Former Iranian President Mohamed Khatami, who visited the BA, and gave a lecture on "Dialogue among Civilizations", attended by several Egyptian politicians and dignitaries, and senior Iranian officials on Tuesday, 27 March 2007. Dr. Youssef Zeidan, Director, Manuscript Center and Museum moderated the session, which was attended by Dr. Ismail Seragedlin, Director of the Library of Alexandria.
At the onset of his lecture, Khatami said that a nation, whose Holy Book is the miracle of its religion, and whose first verse revealed to Prophet Muhammad starts with a command "Read", should highly value books, science, and rationality. However, Islamic countries, according to international standards, are ranked as developing countries.
He added that some people attempt to compensate for their ignorance by imitating the west, while others hide it by adhering to some religious practices, when the essence of religion, actually, calls for thinking and rationality.
Khatami raised a question on the deterioration of the Islamic World, whose civilization was one of the most distinguished civilizations of humanity. He added that the Islamic World does not utilize its material, intellectual and moral capacities to fight ignorance and backwardness and return to a status of eminence.
He referred to the significant role played by Alexandria in the history of knowledge, culture, and civilization, especially during the age of the Islamic civilization, and how much it relates to his proposal on "Dialogue among Civilization", which has gained a lot of international support.
He gave an example of co-existence and dialogue among civilizations, with the multi-faceted civilization, which was nurtured in Alexandria, following the decline of the Greek civilization. Alexandria welcomed Greek philosophers, thus building up on the production of earlier civilizations and cultures. Looking at the names and roots of distinguished philosophers and thinkers at that age, one finds out that scholars from different nationalities participated in the reformulation and publishing of the works of Aristotle and Plato.
Khatami admired the efforts exerted to revive the Library of Alexandria, as a center of knowledge, research and information for Egyptians, Muslims, and the world.
He stated that a society cherishing books, art and culture, must protect scholars and respect their freedom of expression. There would be no chance for creativity in science, art, and knowledge, in an atmosphere lacking security and freedom. He added that the issue of security and freedom is a matter of life and death and is the answer to the question raised earlier "why can’t our nation restore its prosperity and overcome its stagnation and backwardness?
At the end of the lecture, Khatami answered several questions on different issues including: Iranian- Egyptian relations, how Iran faced religious fundamentalism, dialogue among civilizations in the status quo, means of reconciliation between Shiite and Sunni, and the Iranian nuclear file.
At the end of the session a commemorative shield, as a small token of thanks and gratitude, was given to Mr. Mohamed Khatami by Dr. Ismail Seragedlin.