His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah, chairman of the Global Center for Renewal & Guidance (GCRG), described universities in the Arab World as unproductive and in need of immediate interventions to develop them academically and financially through Waqf revenues, stressing that it is only when Arabs had effective educational systems that they pioneered all fields of human thought and knowledge.

In an interview with Mauritania TV, attended by a selection of guests, the preeminent Sheikh stated, “The Arab/Islamic World suffers from a severe intellectual crisis as well as cultural, political, and economic weakness”.

Bin Bayyah warned that Western feminism is motivated by sheer malice towards Muslims, rather than a real desire to empower women in the Muslim World.

In the same vein, he exhorted Muslim women to play a leading role in public life, within the limits and guidelines of Islamic Shari`ah and morality.

Asked whether dialogue with the West is viable, Bin Bayyah clarified that it is imperative and inevitable. “Though having so far had unsatisfactory results, it is the only option open to us,” he commented, concluding that, fortunately, there are still “few” Western intellectuals and philosophers who are willing to listen and to interact.