Praise be to the Lord of the Universe and Peace and Blessings be Upon the Master of all Messengers, Our Prophet Muhammad, and on His Kin and Companions and all who keep to His Guidance and Follow His Example until the Day of Judgment. In compliance with the injunctions of our Lord in His divine wisdom in support of stability and peace in Muslim societies and in shunning strife and dispersal, and in line with the sage law that calls for fellowship among the believers and their assembly around the Word of Truth and Justice and for due referral to the divine Shariah in case of dispute or difference, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held the “International Ulema Conference for Peace and Security in Afghanistan”, in the two cities of Jeddah and Makkah Al-Mukarramah, on 26 through 27 Shawwal 1439 H (10-11 July 2018), in the gracious hospitality of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and under the kind patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Governor of Makkah Al-Mukarramah, may Allah grant him long life, all based on the OIC’s anticipated role in looking after the interests of the Member States and as an extension of its endeavours towards spreading prosperity and consolidating peace and security in the Islamic societies in accordance with the teachings enshrined in the Holy Scripture and the tradition of our noble Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon Him. In pursuance of the resolution issued by the OIC Foreign Minister’s Conference at its Fortieth Session in the Republic of Guinea Conakry in 2013, which was further reiterated by the 45th session of the Foreign Ministers Council held in the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, The participants reviewed the sufferings endured by the Muslim Afghan people with the shedding of innocent blood, the loss of sacred lives, and the wasting of the Muslim state’s resources in a prevailing environment that is in no way approved by the noble Islamic faith which accords prime value to security and which offers a whole range of texts calling for concerted action to establish peace in the Muslim societies and to encourage reconciliation among Muslims, a reconciliation which Islam places on a high pedestal as a prime act to please Allah, Mighty and Sublime be He. The participants in the Conference issued the following Declaration: Afghanistan forms a Muslim state. Its citizens are Mulsims whose life is sacrosanct and who all aspire to peace and security, and the perpetrations it has been undergoing in terms of the killings of innocent lives are contrary to the principles and formal teachings of Islam and run counter to the principles of unity, solidarity and social coherence among Muslims. We hereby call on Muslim states, organizations and elites to join efforts and pull their weight towards the establishment of peace and security in Afghanistan, using all their potential and influence towards this noble goal to ensure a peaceful and decent life where Muslims cooperate towards building up and developing their nation in harmony with the will of God and His Prophet. Based on the texts of the Quran and the Tradition that Islam is a religion of peace and mercy, that the believers should all be merciful towards one another, and that their blood, property and honour are inalienable and should be protected against aggression, we hereby affirm that the suicide attacks targeting innocent people, and that intestine killings among Muslims are all acts that are prohibited by Allah and His Messenger under texts that are conclusively clear and well-established, whereby Allah says “And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his punishment is hell; he shall abide in it, and Allah will send His wrath on him and curse him and prepare for him a painful chastisement.” Based on the above we hereby express our condemnation of the intestine killings in Afghanistan and call upon all parties to the conflict to abide by Allah’s injunction, end this strife and resort to reconciliation among brothers and put down the flames of animosity. We call upon Afghanistan’s government and the Taliban movement to conform to a truce and ceasefire and set on a track of direct Afghani negotiations. Reconciling between battling Muslims is one of the greatest and most honoured acts of worship, for the spilling of innocent blood is among the greatest sins and an abominable deed that splits the ranks of the Ummah, fragments it and weakens its fabric. We hereby call on Muslims at large, and on the scholars among them in particular, to persist in their fast stand against the advocates of violence and extremism, in defense of their religion and in preservation of their Islamic Ummah’s unity. A national dialogue is the optimal way to end the conflict between the Afghan Government and the Taliban Movement, and the solution to the cause of the Muslim Afghani must particularly go through mutual understanding and direct peaceful negotiations. We, in this respect, endorse and support the recent efforts of the Afghani scholars towards a successful Afghani reconciliation. We pay tribute to the efforts put in by the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ashraf Ghani, and praise him for his invitation to the Taliban Movement to engage in a direct, peaceful and unconditional dialogue, and for his recognition of the Movement as a political party whose goal shall be the predominance of security in Afghanistan. We also call on the Taliban Movement to respond to the invitation made by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to eschew violence, end the mutual killings and sit together around the negotiating table. We further reiterate the substance of para (4) of the resolution issued by the OIC’s International Islamic Fiqh Academy under reference no. (195-204) dated 15-19 Muharram 1435H, at the 21st session of the Academy’s Council stipulating that “laying stress on dialogue approach in line with Resolution no.182 (8/19) as a means to resolve political differences and disputes and in managing relations between the governing bodies, the masses, and the various political parties, on nonuse of the force or weapons between the children of the shared Ummah and country, and on steering away from fanaticism, sectarianism and narrow-minded dogmatism.” We hereby extend our grateful appreciation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and His Highness the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, for their interest in the causes of Muslims everywhere as well as for their gracious hosting of this conference. We praise the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for his follow-up and interest in the truce reached during the Eidul Fitr between the Afghani Government and the Taliban Movement, and we appeal to all parties to respond to the call for the extension of the truce. We also highly appreciate the Kingdom’s stances and efforts in favour of establishing peace and security in Afghanistan, in a drive to ensure an environment conducive to peaceful negotiations and to an end to the fighting and bloodshed. We hereby extend our deep thanks to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for having arranged for this important meeting and we highly appreciate its commendable efforts, wishing it full success in its ongoing noble role in favour of a peaceful solution to the issue of the Muslim state of Afghanistan. We request H.E. the Secretary General to dispatch to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, may Allah preserve him, as well as to His Royal Highness Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman,, may Allah preserve him, and to the Government and people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a cable of gratitude and appreciation for the generous hosting of the conference and for the excellent arrangements and sincere efforts deployed by the Kingdom to support national reconciliation in Afghanistan. May Allah grant us guidance and set us on the right path.