Hyderabad: Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, preached unity between the Shia and Sunni communities at the historic Macca Masjid on Friday.
The President and his delegation offered prayers at the mosque on the second day of their three-day visit to India. He is the first Iranian President to have visited the Macca Masjid.
“Our only aim is to promote unity among the Muslims of the world. The enemies of Islam do not want Muslims to be united. Had Muslims been united, the USA would not have dared to announce Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” he said.
He said the only solution for Muslims was to rise above sectarian differences and accept the members of various sects.
“Muslims should tolerate and respect Muslims across the world, regardless of sect, and others as well,” he said. He said that the Macca Masjid bore testimony to the historic relations between Iran and India. He also referred to some of the shooting incidents in educational institutions in the USA. “Some alleged that Islam is a religion of violence and terrorism. But they are wrong in their assessment of Islam. On the contrary violence is there in Western societies. We see people killing other people in American colleges and schools,” he said.
