Al-Liqa’ Center for Religious and Heritage Studies in the Holy Land
Celebrates the Silver Jubilee 1982-2007
Advocate Ali Mustafa Rafe’
Haifa
In the Name of God, the Merciful and the Compassionate
Ali-Liqa’ Center
Twenty-Five Years of Giving
O people, I created you male and female and made you into nations and tribes that ye may know each other; in the sight of God the noblest among you is the most righteous, and God is all knowledgeable and an expert (v. 13, The Rooms).
If any one asks me to design a motto for al-Liqa’ Center, I would have certainly chosen the above verse from The Rooms, which refers to the morals and values people must have in their dealings with other people. Humanity that brings us together enforces on us certain rules, which if we follow and apply, our daily life would become the best guide to a life based on knowledge and labor that aim at improving our life, as God instructs us in verse 77 from the chapter of The Stories which He addresses to all people: “Seek, as God intends you to do, heaven and do not forget your share in this life; and do good as God did to you, and seek no corruption in this world; God detests corrupt people.”
Knowledge and labor for a better life: knowledge of oneself and the other is what al-Liqa’ Center strove to achieve since its inception in 1981. A group of educated people met and studied the possibility of setting up a center for Christian and Islamic studies in Palestine. The founders started their project with periodical meetings that later developed into annual conferences open to the Palestinian public.
The study sessions organized by al-Liqa’ dealt with the daily life of the Palestinian people, stressing the Christian and Moslem perspectives in dealing with crucial issues that concern Palestinians. The motto of al-Liqa’ has always been mutual respect for the doctrine and beliefs of all those who participated in al-Liqa’ activities. Al-Liqa’s activities were held locally in Bethlehem, Jerusalem and the Galilee, and abroad in Cyprus, Greece, the US, and the Far East. The activities sought to reinforce and deepen human interaction and relations, especially between the followers of Christianity and Islam.
Participants made the acquaintance of each other and knew each other’s doctrines, customs and traditions in worship, feasts and other holy occasions, stressing at the same time the cultural and intellectual dimensions in all the activities. Mutual respect, respect of pluralism and diversity and individualism were of utmost importance. Al-Liqa’ believes that human relationships are a basic foundation in our cultural heritage, as the verse quoted at the beginning indicates. Twenty-five years ago al-Liqa’ was born and now it has grown into a young lively center that paves the way of tolerance and love before the next generation.
Al-Liqa’s activities were not excluded to conferences; rather al-Liqa’ issued several publications like books and journals both in Arabic and English. It also had joint activities with university students and the public in general. For the past twenty-five tears, al-Liqa’ labored to bring human hearts close to each other, to spread knowledge, and unite people, believing in one God and one nation.
Al-Liqa’ Center and its administration and all its members deserve gratitude and appreciation. God teaches us “If ye be thankful I will make you rich abundantly.” May God increase our knowledge and may we join efforts and work for the good of our society and nation.