With reverent souls, with the mercy of God Almighty, we received a noble call made by the Supreme Committee for Human Fraternity to pray for humanity on Thursday, 14 May, hoping for the abundance of God's giving and the great blessing of His creation on human beings. Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayyeb, sheikh of Al-Azhar, welcomed the invitation, along with His Holiness Pope Francis, urging citizens around the world to send hope for the formation of the largest human gathering known in creation to pray to God to raise the scourge and reveal sorrow and spread a secure life for workers. The purpose of this noble initiative was united with the message of Al-Azhar in the words of the grand imam, when he said that prayers and patience are both a religious necessity and a worldly necessity, as they are the only way to achieve goals, and there is no time in which we need patience like this epidemic, which crouches on chests, destabilises, and limits public and private freedoms. With the nobility of the message, people around the world gathered together to respond to the appeal, with a beautiful effect that was praised by world leaders representing millions of their people, starting with the secretary-general of the United Nations who blessed the invitation, the King of Bahrain who welcomed it, the President of Chechnya who joined it, the President of the Palestinian Authority who gathered his people, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, who described it as a moment of human solidarity in which differences disappear. Today, we are at the peak of the crisis, as we struggle with this deadly epidemic, we realise that all humanity is united under one banner including different races and religions, rejects disagreement and denounces division, and takes in praying to God a path towards salvation from this pandemic, and transcends this challenge, which does not exclude anyone and does not differentiate between rich and poor. Tolerant beliefs and the holy religions take a ritual prayer and an offering to the Creator, and a sincere belief to invoke him for human inspiration to combat the new coronavirus and extract vaccines, until the earth pulses with movement, open barriers between countries and the universe rhythm are established by coexistence for work and production, in accordance with the noble Quranic verse: He created you from the earth and settled you in it. The world extracts the roots of hatred and brings peace, in fulfilment of the verse of the Bible: Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Let this day be a witness to the greatest gathering for good and for humanity, with everyone in their sanctuary in all corners of the earth. There is no voice that raises in eternity other than unified calls made exclusively to God Almighty, calls that scientists succeed in producing cures for this raging disease, to give them visionary insight, and a blessing of patience and determination to doctors around the world to give them the determination to resist the epidemic, serve the sick and alleviate the pandemic. So, I extend an invitation to the Egyptian and Arab people and the people of the world, to everyone whose heart beats in hope, to become part of this noble human event in its purpose, and unique in its nature, by invoking God Almighty with the following: It is from the goodness of belief, the supremacy of the soul, and the integrity of the heart, that God takes away burdens from us, saves us from what we are and inspires us to the path of love, humanity, and peace, and may it be a call to goodness, solidarity, interdependence, brotherhood, and spending on those who were harmed by this epidemic. *The writer is a member of Egypt's House of Representatives.
