MANAMA, Bahrain: Bahrain’s Clergymen Council chairman Sheikh Isa Qassim said unity would bring success just as division is bringing the downfall of the Muslim world.

Speaking at the Fourth Islamic Unity Conference, organized by the country's biggest Islamic society - the Islamic Enlightenment Society -, Sheikh Qassim said: "We should neglect our differences if we are to develop and grow stronger… Our disunity has harmed our image - not just in other countries but inside our own communities."

An Iranian clergyman Sheikh Muhammad Mahdi Al-Asafi was the guest speaker at the three-day event that was held at Saar Ma'tam under the patronage of Sheikh Qassim.

Society president Sheikh Saeed An-Noori said the Holy Quran asks Muslims to unite - a call many Muslims are not observing.

"We should only think about Islam and ways of promoting it as a religion of tolerance and peace, rather than a divided religion with many faiths."

The gathering featured speeches by a number of other clergymen including Sayed Abdulla Al-Guraifi as well as included papers by the Society's Muharraq branch head Sayed Haider As-Sitri, Sheikh Al-Asafi, leading clergyman Sayed Kamil Al-Hashimi, Islamic Action Society president Sheikh Muhammad Al-Mahfoodh, economist Dr Hussain Al-Mahdi, and researcher Dr Jaffar Al-Sayegh.