| Main Performers | Prince Muhammad Al-Faisal - speaker
Mehdi Hasan,
Farida Khanum - vocals |
| Secondary Performers | Dr Mohammed Abder Yamani (Saudi Arabian Minister of Information) |
| Orchestra or Band | Ghazal Singers from Pakistan |
| Set List | Prayer,
Opening Speech (Prince Muhammad Al-Faisal) |
| Royal Presence | Prince Muhammad Al-Faisal |
| Performance Notes | This event and a performance the following evening at the Hall were part of the 1976 World of Islam Festival, opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II which ran from April-June 1976 in London. The Festival was an attempt to showcase and develop a deeper understanding of Islamic civilisation through its art, geography, philosophy, literature, religion etc. As the director Paul Keeler said, the Festival represented "a unique collaboration between scholars, institutions and governments from both the Islamic world and the West."
The opening ceremony was completely sold out and the opening speech (spoken in English) was given by Prince Muhammad Al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia who said;
"I deem it a great honour and a privilege to be amongst you this evening. We are meeting on an historic occasion. It is for the first time in contemporary history that the West has begun to show some real interest in the world of Islam. The Islamic Council of Europe deserves to be congratulated for the pioneering initiative it has taken for focusing the attention of the Western world on the role of Islam, for it consists of ideals, values and principles and not merely certain manifestations of our culture. Brothers and sisters, I have come to this historic conference and am speaking to you this evening from the deepest recesses of my heart simply in one capacity... that of a Muslim. And I hope and pray to God that he will enable us all to play our rightful roles in the promotion of truth and justice and peace in this troubled, afflicted world."
The Royal Albert Hall in London was the venue for a series of pan-Islamic concerts which was organized throughout April and May and included musicians from Iran,Turkey, India, and Pakistan.
Exhibitions were held at the British Museum, the British Library, the V&A, the Science Museum and the Hayward Gallery to name but a few. 6,000 manuscripts and objects from 250 public and private collections in 32 countries were gathered together for display. A Quran recital was held at the Royal Festival Hall; 20 concerts at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Rooms and Horniman Museum; 23 seminars and over 100 lectures took place in universities and learned societies; a series of 6 films produced, broadcast on the BBC twice during the Festival, and over 50 books published.
Many institutions elsewhere participated as well: the Metropolitan Museum of New York, the National Art Gallery of Washington, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Seattle Art Museum, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the United States; the Hermitage Museum, the Academy of Sciences and the State Library in the USSR; the Bibliotheque Nationale and the Louvre in France; the Museum of Islamic Art and the National Library in Egypt; the Bastan Museum, the Imperial Library and the Imam Riza Library and Museum in Iran; museums in both the Germanys; and museums, galleries and libraries in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Iraq, Italy, Lebanon, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria and Tunisia.
British Pathe footage of Prince Mohammed Al-Faisel opening the conference is held by British Pathe (Film ID: VLVA1O12XQYE6643F7Q4599IA1M91, 2min 21sec) |
| Related Archival Material | Programme (RAHE/1/1976/92) |