Shaykh Hassan Ali Cisse attended the ‘Peace and Harmony Conference’ held in Tonsberg, Norway, June 21-22, 2008, as a representative of Islam, Senegal, the Network of African Islamic Organizations for Population and Development and AAII.
The ‘Peace and Harmony Conference’ was organized by Norwegian Dr. Aril Edvarsen, along with a coalition of Muslim leaders in Norway, and was sponsored by the Norwegian government. They recognized that as a “Christian country” with a growing Muslim minority, there is an urgent need for significant progress toward integration, mutual respect and tolerance for all religions and ethnicities within Norwegian society. Shaykh Hassan Ali Cisse’s work toward inter-religious harmony and peaceful relations between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria rendered his participation especially relevant and valuable.
Moving beyond the borders of Norway, the organizers and participants urged sending a strong message against weapons of mass destruction to their respective governments, as well as promoting peace, democracy and human rights around the world. Shaykh Hassan Ali Cisse emphasized that the teachings of Islam as a religion of peace and compassion are in full support of these goals.