The International Academic Center for Sufi and Aesthetic Studies in Fez took part, through its president Sheikh Dr. Aziz El Kobaiti Idrissi Al-Hassani, in the events held in Moscow to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the Moscow Muftiate, within the framework of the "Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia".
The Center's address delivered to this gathering a spiritual and reforming message centred on love, peace and the unity of peoples, affirming that Islam is, in its essence, a message of mercy and peace, and that love for the Messenger of God ﷺ can bring hearts together across differences of language, nationality and culture.
It also stressed the importance of reforming the individual from within — the foundation for reforming the family and society — through spiritual and moral education and by reviving the values of mercy, cooperation and tolerance, holding that love can be a bridge for dialogue between religions and peoples, and a key to coexistence and peace.
The address drew a remarkable response and applause from the audience, for its vision linking the spiritual development of the individual to the strengthening of social peace.
It closed on a unifying message: "Wars are extinguished by love, and peace is achieved through love" — a condensed expression of the Center's philosophy, which makes spiritual education and the reform of the individual the pathway to a more balanced, cooperative and peaceful society.