URI Regional Office: URI MENA Location: The Middle East & North Africa Region URI MENA Cultural Café, the 40th session: Love is the source of faith Our URI MENA Cultural Café was on Love as a source of true belief by Dr. Amer Al-Bayati from Iraq. Dr. Bayati spoke about the role of love in building the individual and community and how religions bring communities closer through love. Takeaways:

• Love is the most powerful emotion a human being can experience. However, it is difficult to identify what is love. We can identify our feeling of love. The word "love" expresses a human virtue that is based on compassion, affection and kindness.
• Love is the essence of all religions and faiths (monotheistic and manmade).
• Love begets positive energy for yourself and others around you, while hate begets negative energy. Negative begets negative, negativity is a highly contagious emotion or state of mind. Hence, we should not hate under any circumstances.
• Muslims believes that God is so loving that he recreated his attribute of love as an instinct in us. Hence, true love is part of God's love, and it is our duty to love one another truly, as indeed He loves us. Also, love is a central value in the teachings and practices of Christianity. This even mentioned in the Muslim holy book "the Qur’an": {And We have placed in the hearts of those who followed him (i.e., Jesus) compassion and mercy}. In Qur’anic terminology, compassion and mercy are synonymous with love.
• Faith and Love are connected; Faith works by love. It is energized and put into motion by love.
• Love is one of the noblest human principles and traits that cultivate the spirit of solidarity, friendship and cooperation between people.
• Hate is a choice. It is not inherent nor is it inevitable. Hate will drain your spirit, tarnish your soul and darken your days. You need to control it before it damages you or your loved ones.
• If you are not comfortable with a certain person, limit your contact with this person.