Spain’s Instituto Halal has been invited to the United States to participate today, at the invitation of U.S. President Barak Obama, in the Government Summit on Economic and Social Entrepreneur of the Muslim World, to be attended by 115 companies from Muslim countries or Muslim-led non-Islamic countries.
The general director of the Halal Institute, Isabel Romero, who is also spokesman for the Islamic Council and vice president of the Federation of Muslim Spain (PEMS), believes that the entrepreneurial spirit of the Halal Institute which led to President Obama’s invitation, through the U.S. Embassy in Spain, to participate in Washington DC at the Summit, whose purpose, as the host country, is “to build business relationships that may create business opportunities and life-changing”, with the president’s participation Obama and “other dignitaries, along with businessmen around the world, seeking the advance of trade relations with the Muslim community. ”
In this regard, Romero noted that travel to the United States “with proposals to improve the living conditions of Muslims in Spain and also promote positive cooperation and bridges between institutions from different parts of the world, as the Halal Institute’s participation in The business summit will take place under the premise that Islam and democracy, the pursuit of human rights and freedoms are inextricably linked.”
For this reason, the Halal Institute of the Islamic Board, which is based in Almodóvar del Río (Córdoba), working with “those policies that are driven from different administrations to promote understanding, rapprochement and cooperation, as the only avenue to curb intolerance and violence, from whatever source. In this sense, both the European Union (EU), as the new U.S. administration is taking steps to encourage the meeting and closeness between people, organizations and institutions to achieve that goal and it is in this context that we have attended the Summit of Washington.”
IMAGE OF ISLAM
On the other hand, Romero, who will support the United States proposal that the second Muslim Business Summit held in Cordoba, said she hoped the forum will serve to change Washington “and the distorted vision of so-called monolithic Muslim world that has presented through the media for years. Just use common sense to realize that 1,500 million people across the world do not fit the cliche that the big power interests want to impose” .
In fact, as underlined Romero, “Islam has many different forms of expression and precision, depending on the cultural models on which it sits. Arab societies are not the same as Asian and we can not say that Western democracies are perfect, as we can clearly see the human rights violations that occur, the use of torture or the predatory actions of some large corporations and financial institutions. In all systems there are light and dark. “
MUSLIM WOMEN
Finally, Romero said that for her and the organization she represents is just as much an honor and a responsibility “to attend the Washington summit, which will mean the opportunity to enjoy a great experience, to contact people around the world, initiate collaborations and improve the experience in international relations,” and this without forgetting that the invitation to the Islamic Council to attend the business summit “has been extended to a European Muslim woman who occupies a leadership position in this organization. ”
However, the general director of the Halal Institute of the Islamic Board said she was “aware that there is still much work to do in the field of equality between men and women both in society as a whole, and within the religious communities and in many Islamic countries, although there has been an increase in social movements and initiatives to give Muslim women a more relevant role in society, and there are now many women ministers from Islamic countries, judges, lawyers, licensed in all disciplines and, specifically, in Iran there are more women with university degrees than men.”
But still, she acknowledged, “is a long struggle to achieve real improvements, both legal and actual.” Given that the position of Muslim women is “to try the progress of society as a whole, without excluding anyone, since the struggle for equality is not of confrontation but of inclusion.”
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CÓRDOBA, 27 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS)
