UN Chief Quotes The Qur’an

UN Secretary General: Antonio Guiterres

The new UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, while speaking against discrimination against minorities (Muslims in particular), stressed that discrimination puts innocent people at great danger. The UN chief said in his video message, Wednesday 18th January, that anti-Muslim hate crimes are on the rise and that it prevents societies and individuals from reaching their full potentials. He said even though statistics might not reflect it, lots of people suffer from abuses based on mere suspicion which affects their integrity. In encouraging tolerance and unity, the 67 year old Portuguese quoted from Suratul Hujurat (49:13) “…we have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another…” a very rare happening at the world body. The high-profile diplomat who took over from Ban Ki Moon on 1st January was also quoted to have said, “People everywhere need to feel that their cultural identities are valued and at the same time, to have a strong sense of belonging to the community as a whole” while announcing what he called the ‘Together campaign’ initiative of the UN. The high level event was organized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Delegation of the European Union and the Permanent Missions of Canada and the United States to the UN.