Riyadh- SPA

 The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has recorded his name in the contemporary history with luminous letters as one of the most prominent supporters of dialogue among the followers of various religions, contemporary cultures and civilizations.He sponsored the World Dialogue Conference held in Madrid, Spain, in July 2008.

In its report on the 81st anniversary of the National Day of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reviewed the efforts made by the King to promote dialogue among Muslims to maintain their unity and solidarity towards imminent dangers, and to establish dialogue with other parties to bring about peace and security throughout the world, and to introduce Islam's tolerance and justice to non-Muslims.

The King's efforts were culminated into convening a meeting of a high level UN General Assembly meeting for interfaith dialogue in 12-13 November in response to Madrid Declaration issued by the World Conference on Interfaith Dialogue organized by Muslim World League in Madrid in response to a request from King Abdullah.

Madrid Declaration, issued by The World Dialougue, urged the UN General Assembly to support and use the conference recommendations to promote dialogue among the followers of various religions, civilizations and cultures.

Participants in the conference hope that the King arranges for holding this session at the earliest possible opportunity.
The meeting of the UN high-level dialogue among followers of various religions, cultures and civilizations, came in line with the King's hopes, aspirations and his noble and leading quests to achieve understanding and cooperation among nations.

The King defined the reasons why previous dialogues failed. Most of the past dialogues failed because they had turned into mutual recrimination focusing on and exaggerating differences; resulting in futile endeavors that exacerbate  rather than mitigate tensions, or because they attempted to melt religions and creeds on the pretext of bringing them together, and these had also proved to be futile efforts.

In continuation of The King's noble quest for dialogue, he received at his palace in Riyadh, participants in the 6th Forum of Inter-Civilizations Dialogue between Japan and the Islamic world, which was held in Riyadh during the period from 15 to 17/3/1429H.

The International Islamic Conference for Dialogue which was held in Makkah has adopted the appeal launched by the King for dialogue among  followers of various religions, civilizations and cultures.

The International Islamic Conference for Dialogue decided establishing of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Center for Communication between Civilizations and King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Award for Inter-civilization dialogue. The award will be given to individuals and international agencies that contribute to promotion of dialogue and the achievement of its objectives.

The King stressed in his speech at Majlis Al-Shura in 1431H, the Kingdom's adoption of the approach based on dialogue and tolerance.
Over the past years, the King called on several occasions and platforms for peace to supesede disputes and conflicts, and to use dialogue as an approach to bridge the gap between followers of various religions, cultures and civilizations.