Ulema belonging to different schools of thought on Wednesday stressed the need to promote inter-sect harmony and religious tolerance in the society in order to ensure peace and tranquility, especially during the holy month of Muharram. Religious personalities from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan participated in the Paigham-e-Pakistan seminar titled “Right to Live in Peace and Inter-Sect Harmony” organized in connection with the International Peace Day at the Dargaah Abu Al-Bayan Gujranwala. Addressing the event, the speakers emphasized the need to follow a code of conduct to eradicate extremism from the society and promote peace, tolerance, unity and brotherhood, which, according to them, will in turn help thwart the nefarious designs of the enemies who are hell bent on dividing the Muslim Ummah on religious, sectarian and ethnic lines in order to make it weaker. They said that negative elements wanted to magnify sectarian differences in the Muslim societies and that the issue must be dealt with through unity and brotherhood. They called upon religious scholars to play their role in creating unity among Muslims by taking practical steps to nullify the propaganda against Islam, adding that Islam always advocated patience and respect to the opinion of others. “We need to work together to spread resemblances prevailing in different sects instead of differences,” they underscored. The speakers underlined the need for promoting social justice and forbearance in the society to achieve the objectives of inter-sect harmony, adding that division of the society, hatred and arrogant behaviours of individuals coupled with prioritising sects over the religion were some major issues that needed immediate attention. They said that Muslims all over the globe were facing political, social and sectarian hurdles, which can only be addressed if they fully imbibe the teachings of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) based on tolerance, love, patience and respect for fellow human beings. Ulema must use their influence to promote inter-sect and inter-faith harmony by shaping the public opinion, they added. The participants also threw light on the Paigham-e-Pakistan initiative of the government of Pakistan launched earlier this year to address the challenges posed by extremism and sectarianism through a national narrative which portrayed a soft and positive image of Pakistan and highlighted Islam as a religion of peace, brotherhood, tolerance and harmony. The session was chaired by Sahibzada Rafiq Ahmed Mujaddadi, while Member National Assembly (MNA) Syed Iftikhar ul Hassan Shah was the chief guest on the occasion. Prominent among those who attended the seminar were Deputy Sheikh and Senior Advisor to Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Institute Egypt Dr Muhammad Mohanna, Prof Dr Zaid bin Jafar from Saudi Arabia, Syed Bilal Hussain Chishti from India, Dr Munir Al Azhari from Egypt, Qari Sadaqat Ali Shah, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Prof Tariq Sharifzada, Prof Asif Hazarvi, Allama Noorul Hassan Chishti and Naeem ud Din Al Azhari. Published in Daily Times, September 13th 2018.