New Delhi: May 3, 2015. (PCP) The renowned Islamic scholar and peace activist Maulana Wahiduddin Khan was awarded the Sayyidina Imam Al Hassan Ibn Ali Award at the Second Annual Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, in Abu Dhabi on April 30, 2015. Sheikh Abdallah Bin Bayyah, Chairman of the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, presented the award to the Maulana at the closing session of the three-day conference. The peace award was given in acknowledgement of Maulana’s decades’ long efforts for promoting world peace. On the occasion Sheikh Bin Bayyah said that 90-year old Maulana Wahiduddin Khan had for over seventy years worked tirelessly for the cause of establishing peace in order that a culture of good will and tolerance may prevail all over the world. The Maulana has authored more than 200 books on various issues relating to peace in Islam, Islam in the modern age, spirituality, Islamic ethics and prophetic wisdom. In many of his books the Maulana has developed a complete ideology of peace. Among those who graced the award’s ceremony were Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE minister of foreign affairs and Dr. Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar. About 350 distinguished Islamic scholars and thinkers from across the world participated in the three-day conference. In his keynote address, the Maulana said that he shared the dream of Sheikh Abdallah Bin Bayyah, which is to establish peace and bring an end to the violence and bloodshed happening in the world today. Citing the dictum of UNESCO, the Maulana said, “War begins from the mind and similarly peace can begin from the mind alone.” He explained that the root cause for violence in the Muslim world was the political interpretation of Islam. Some people in the twentieth century developed this political interpretation, which gave the justification to Muslims to engage in violence in the name of religion. The need of the hour, the Maulana observed, is to develop an ideology based on peace so that the new generation of Muslims could be prevented from being misled and so that they be given a rational basis for adhering to the path of peace. However, simply an ideology is not enough, the Maulana noted. The Muslim youths should be given a target so that their energies could be properly and positively channelized. The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi congratulated Maulana Wahiduddin Khan by tweeting :"Congratulations to Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, on being conferred the Sayyidina Imam Al Hassan Ibn Ali Peace Award at a function in Abu Dhabi,". He said: "Maulana Wahiduddin Khan's knowledge and efforts towards peace make him one of the most respected scholars, admired all over,".