The World Prays for Human Fraternity
The global initiative “Pray for Humanity” launched by the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, to be set on Thursday, 14 May, 2020 as a day of prayer, was welcomed by the leaderships of different countries of the world and international organizations in order to ask the Almighty to end the novel Coronavirus “Covid-19” pandemic that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and about four billion people of various races and beliefs are still under threat currently.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces stated: “Our prayers in addition to the worship of millions around the world to God never stop, however whether they unite at the call of the Human Fraternity Committee, we find the moment of solidarity where the differences are fading amidst the challenge from where no one is excluded, regardless one’s efforts. Thus, we are in need to reconcile God and His mercy so as to achieve the end to the pandemic.
His Holiness Pope Francis, Pope of the Vatican, said: “We ask for an overcome from this Pandemic and we are all united as brothers who pray to God according to our culture, tradition and beliefs, who fast and ask forgiveness from God for our sins. This pandemic has come up suddenly and lately we started to wake up a little to see that there are other pandemics of hunger and war too, but the most important thing is that we pray, thanks to the courage of the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity.”
It is well known that this committee is dedicated to achieving the objectives of the Human Fraternity Document which was unveiled during the Global Conference on Human Fraternity, attended by more than 700 leaders of various religions of the world. In the capital Abu Dhabi on 4th February 2019, Pope Francis, the Pope of Vatican and Ahmad Al Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar signed the Fraternity Document in the presence of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces and H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum - Vice President of the United Arab Emirates and Prime Minister.
During the phone call between H.H. Salome Zourabichvili and His Holiness Pope Francis before the world day of prayer, His Holiness pledged to pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic, noting that this global crisis has made it clearer how important brotherhood is between nations and said that he would pray for Georgia naming it as a country of great spirituality and precious to him.
In a statement made on this memorable occasion, Ahmad Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar mentioned that this prayer is a sincere call to turn to God through worship and prayers in which we beseech God and seek refuge in Him. He also urged the entire humanity to work on rediscovering the values of justice, peace, coexistence and equality among all humans through the hardships and crises.
As well, a number of religious and political leaders of the world joined this global initiative by expressing their support through tweets, articles and videos posted on social media accounts. Among them is UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who, in support of the initiative, stated on his account of Twitter: “In difficult times, we must stand together for peace, humanity and solidarity”.
Thus, it is truly a humanitarian pause in which Faith and optimism interfere and amid the threat of pandemics and disasters, our human instinct leads us to return to God and get His mercy upon us.
By H.E. ESSA ALNOAIMI - THE AMBASSADOR OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES IN GEORGIA
Image: Signing the Document of Human Fraternity, Feb. 2019, Abu Dhabi