ALGIERS-President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika stressed Monday in Algiers the message of moderation “is the best illustration” of the nobility of Islam and its rejection of any form of violence or excesses.
In a message to participants in the 18th national week on Quran, read on his behalf by the Advisor to the Presidency of the Republic, President Bouteflika said “our nation is currently facing the challenge of defence of our religion and preservation of the whole humanity against religious and confessional conflicts, which are very dangerous.”
“Since Algeria chose Islam as a religion, it has always drawn on the source of this religion to take measured and moderated stands that protect our society today against regional and international friction,” President Bouteflika affirmed.
“This Algeria inspired the current generation, for which the spirit of moderation is a point of reference. Besides, this generation has not hesitated to support the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation and make its implementation possible, and adhered to all projects launched by the state to eradicate fundamentalism, extremism and rigorism,” President Bouteflika argued after referring to the martyrs of Algeria.
President Bouteflika recalled that “the matrix of our historical and cultural reference, imbued with the teachings of moderated Islam and values of patriotism and sacrifice, led to the birth of the “Algeria” school for prevention against extremism, which catches the interest of all concerned, and whose experience attracts the wise, inspires friends and cultivates pride and self-confidence in society.”
“Over the years, our country has remained attached to its civilizational legacy. Its cultural and scientific potential, about which is boasts today, reflects this attachment and constitutes a strong argument to meet the current challenges in the world, a world exposed to disturbing and impressive disturbances, reverberate a worrying reality threatening the existence of humanity,” President Bouteflika said.
Moreover, the head of state “called on scholars and avant-gardists of the Muslim nation to work for the defence of Islam, which is intentionally and unfairly targeted by some hostile environments within societies with little knowledge of this holy religion.”
President Bouteflika also congratulated the organizers of this event for the relevant choice of the theme of moderation, stressing Algeria can deservedly be proud of the moderation of its religious references and its policy, event in the most difficult circumstances.”
Source: President Bouteflika: Message of moderation, “best illustration of Islam nobility”
