King Mohammed VI who stands out as a staunch defender of the Islam of the Middle path and Islam’s values of tolerance, moderation and justice makes sure, whenever he visits an African country hosting a Muslim community, to reach out to this community, through revamping their religious shrines and mosques, training their preachers and distributing copies of the Holy Quran to members of the Muslim community, among others.
And this is precisely what he is doing during his current visit to Madagascar, part of a second leg of a second phase of an African tour that already took him to Ethiopia.
In this vein, King Mohammed VI performed the Friday prayers in the mosque of Antananarivo.
In his sermon, the Imam highlighted the values of cooperation between nations in favor of humanity’s coexistence and well-being and emphasized the crucial importance of wisdom, mutual assistance and right advice (Annassiha) in a so disturbed world to appease minds and consequently contribute to set up a better future, as well as the need for all to reinforce this common heritage to counter the scourges threatening Humanity in its essence.
The preacher went on to say that King Mohammed VI’s visit to Madagascar is imbued with this impulse of love, cooperation, mutual aid and “nassiha.” This visit, he said, represents a sort of pilgrimage to pay tribute to the land that hosted his late grandfather and the royal family, during their forced exile.
The sermon shed light on the era when the two countries were fighting for their independence, recalling in this respect the Khotba delivered by late King Mohammed V in the mosque of Antsirabe.
The Imam welcomed the peace and harmony prevailing between the followers of different religions in Madagascar, calling on the Malagasy Muslims to ensure the perpetuation of their country’s inter-religious coexistence and to safeguard Islam from extremist attempts to sow discord and animosity within the Malagasy society.
After the Friday prayers, the Monarch donated copies of the holy Quran to the authorities in charge of managing religious affairs in the country.
On Wednesday, King Mohammed VI visited Antsirabe where he renamed the “Antsirabe Mosque” after his grandfather, late king Mohammed V, who had settled in this Malagasy central city after his forced exile by French occupiers.
The Moroccan Monarch performed a prayer in this mosque that was refurbished upon his instructions to pay tribute to the memory of a religious site and to his grandfather and donated copies of the holy Quran to the local Muslim community.
