ISLAMABAD: The imam of Makkah’s Grand Mosque Dr. Sheikh Abdullah Awad Al Juhany on Sunday urged Muslims across the world to demonstrate unity among themselves to overcome the challenges like terrorism and extremism.

He arrived in Pakistan on Thursday and will hold meetings with the country’s top civil and military leadership during his stay. Apart from that, he will also participate in multiple events organized to ensure religious harmony among Muslims.

“As long as the Muslims are united, no force in the world can defeat them,” the imam said while addressing the 4th Paigham-e-Islam – or Message of Islam – conference in Islamabad. Hundreds of people, including religious clerics belonging to different schools of thought and seminary students, attended the conference which aimed at disseminating Islam’s message of love and peace.

Juhany, a frequent visitor to Pakistan, said he had brought good wishes from the Saudi government to the people of Pakistan. “Pakistan is an important country in the Muslim world, and we hold her in high esteem,” he said.

The imam added that “Saudi Arabia is a peace loving country” and has “always played a positive role in mitigating the sufferings of Muslims across the globe.”

Highlighting the teachings of the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah, he said: “Islam is a complete code of life, and we should follow its teachings not only to secure peace in this world but also in the hereafter.”

He urged Muslim scholars and clerics to highlight the importance and significance of the teachings of Islam to help their societies prosper.

Listing the main points of a joint declaration adopted at the end of the session, the conference’s chief organizer, Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, said that Islam had nothing to do with terrorism and extremism since it was the religion of peace and love.

“The Islamophobia and hatred being spread against Muslims in European countries is very unfortunate, and we strongly condemn it,” he said while declaring the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman “Person of the Year” for his invaluable services for peace in the world.

Earlier, speaking on the occasion Pakistan’s President Dr. Arif Alvi said the country had successfully defeated terrorism by rendering invaluable sacrifices. “The whole world now recognizes the sacrifices rendered by our armed forces in the war against terror,” he said.

The president said more than 70,000 Pakistanis had laid down their lives to protect the motherland and to flush terrorism out.

Referring to the 3.5 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan, he said that his country had set an example for the world by granting refuge to “our Afghan brothers in ... testing times.”

Also speaking on the occasion was Saudi ambassador to Pakistan, Nawaf Saeed Al Malkiy, who said that the government of Saudi Arabia had remained “on the forefront of serving Muslims across the globe.”

“All Muslims are like one body, and we feel their pain and suffering irrespective of regional boundaries,” he said, adding that the Saudi government had organized numerous conferences to help the causes of Muslims around the world.

Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani said that it was unfair to link the menace of terrorism to a specific religion or sect, arguing it was a “global conspiracy that needs to be defeated.”

“Pakistan has won the war against terrorism, and defended its borders at the same time,” he added.

Pakistan’s Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noorul Haq Qadri said that the Muslim world should unite to deal with its challenges, and highlighted Pakistan’s relationship with Saudi Arabia.

He urged religious clerics to identify the issues facing the common man and provide solutions from the pulpits of their mosques.

“We are here to ensure that our ulema [religious scholars] are respected,” he added. “Nobody should fall for the propaganda [of] our enemies.”

Calling on the religious clerics and scholars to pay attention to modern education, Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi said that the Muslim world should “wage a jihad against illiteracy and poverty to compete with the developed nations of the world.”

“Allah has selected the Imam-e-Kaaba from 1.75 billion Muslims. I was over the moon when I met him,” he said.