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The Al-Mesbar Center: advancing peace and
coexistence through scholarship and action
Turki Aldakhil, Chairman of the Al-Mesbar Center for Studies and Research, Dubai, and
General Manager of Al-Arabiya News Channel
I
n any region torn by civil strife, extremist discourse is
both a reflection and a driver of polarization and violence.
Decent people everywhere intuitively grasp this phenom-
enon when they observe, for example, a religious figure of
any faith teaching children to hate the Other. They know
that as these young people grow, saturated in poison, they
will come to see the world only in terms of dark and light.
They will welcome overtures to annihilate their perceived
enemies. Those who understand and lament this tragedy are
many. Too few, however, feel optimistic about finding an anti-
dote to the poison – that is, promoting a humane alternative
view of the world, counselling openness and driven by love.
My thought partners and I, keenly aware of the power of
words to do good as well as bad, are guided by the convic-
tion that we can make the world a better place by spreading
a culture of brotherhood, sisterhood, amity, and coexistence.
The power to do so lies in all forms of expression – ranging
from enlightened religion, to egalitarian education, to the
harmony of diversity as expressed in the universal language
of music. But success in employing these tools depends on
bridging the gap between forward-thinking intellectuals on
the one hand and popular culture on the other. These beliefs
lie at the heart of Al-Mesbar Center for Research and Studies,
which I founded in 2007 in cooperation with distinguished
friends and colleagues. It was born of the spirit of tolerance
that is shared by millions in my native land, the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia. It was nurtured by the system of tolerance
that permeates the United Arab Emirates, where Al-Mesbar
maintains its headquarters. A decade since its founding, the
Center has grown into a regional hub for inquiry and action,
and now aims to engage the world writ large.
I will share some remarks about our experiences and the
lessons we have learned, both to relay our message to others
and to extend a hand in partnership – for indeed, there is so
much work to be done.
Since Al-Mesbar’s beginnings, we have been a research
institution at heart – a home to scholars and writers of
differing backgrounds and viewpoints who come together
in a desire for incremental, positive reform in their societies.
Our team spans five continents. They speak over a dozen
languages. They include adherents to all three monotheistic
faiths, as well as other faith systems, in addition to people
who harbour the kind of ambivalent feelings about religion
which sometimes come to us all. Our forum is the
Monthly
Book
in which a range of scholars – now over 122 in number
– come together to explore, in depth, an issue of urgent social
importance. Hailing as we do from the Gulf states, we began
by exploring primarily Islamist movements on our native
soil, as well as those of its periphery: the larger Arab world,
followed by neighbouring Turkey and Iran. Regardless of
a given Islamist movement’s humanity or lack thereof, our
Speech made by Bahar, an Iraqi Yazidi woman abducted by ISIS in August
2014 before miraculously escaping. Event hosted by Al Mesbar
Iraqi Yazidi human rights activist and scholar, Mr. Khidr Domle, discusses
Bahar’s ordeal with France 24 which covered the event
Image: Al Mesbar
Image: Al Mesbar