Since 2006, violent Muslim groups have gained ground in the country, capturing and controlling vast areas of the south, including parts of the capital, Mogadishu. Along with tensions with neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia, the rise of piracy and widespread disorder, Somalia has long been regarded as a failed state.

Under the auspices of The Global Centre for Renewal and Guidance and the World Muslim Congress, an august assembly of Muslim scholars from the global Muslim community and specifically from Somalia will convene in Dubai to call for reconciliation and peace in Somalia. The summit will lay out a process to establish solid foundations of peace and harmony, while clarifying specific legal rulings pertaining to:

• judging someone to be outside of the fold of Islam (takfir) and
• military confrontation and conflict

The ensuing crisis within Somalia will be discussed and deliberated upon. The culmination of the summit will the issuing of a fatwa by all scholars present, condemning the religiously-inspired fighting.