The headquarters of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) hosted, on Tuesday, 10 March 2026, the fourth session of the Ramadan gathering titled “Excellence in Vicegerency (Istikhlaf),” held in cooperation between ICESCO and the Group of Spouses of Arab Ambassadors and Heads of International Organizations accredited to the Kingdom of Morocco. The session featured a lecture by Dr. Khadija Abouzid, Professor of Higher Education at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences at Mohammed V University in Rabat, themed “Impediments to Excellence: When the Balance of the Heart Is Broken?” The event was attended by senior figures, led by Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, a number of ambassadors accredited to Morocco, members of the Group, and an audience interested in intellectual and spiritual affairs.
The meeting opened with a recitation from the Holy Qur’an, followed by introductory remarks by Dr. Yousra bint Hussein AlJazairy, Chair of the Cultural Committee of the Group of Spouses of Arab Ambassadors and Heads of International Organizations accredited to the Kingdom of Morocco. She underlined that humanity is living in an era where knowledge has become accessible to an unprecedented degree, prompting a pressing question: How can a person who reads, listens, and possesses all the tools of knowledge still fail to perceive the truth? She noted that the issue does not always stem from a lack of knowledge but often from an imbalance in the heart.
Dr. AlJazairy added that the lecture addresses an analytical path that begins with heedlessness and ends in a state where the heart becomes closed to truth, raising the question of how a person moves from clarity of vision to the blindness of sight.
Dr. Abouzid then began her lecture by highlighting the five obstacles that impede human vicegerency. She started by addressing “perceptual disturbances,” which range from heedlessness and doubt to blindness of the heart, for the truest blindness is not of the eyes but of the heart. She explained how this blindness leads to the second obstacle, “disorders of the will,” such as succumbing to desire, deviation of the heart, and prioritizing worldly life—factors that undermine human nobility and compromise the trust of vicegerency. She then moved to the third obstacle, “disturbances of the emotional sense,” underscoring the danger of inner moral ailments such as hardness of heart, envy, and arrogance. This was followed by the fourth obstacle, related to “personality disturbances” that arise from these ailments and manifest in hypocrisy and ostentation.
Dr. Abouzid pointed out that the fifth obstacle lies in the “shutdown of the heart’s system” entirely, through a process that results in the heart’s complete refusal to reflect upon the words of God or recognize His universal signs.
The lecture concluded with an engaging discussion between Dr. Abouzid and the audience, during which she answered questions regarding the relationship between the mind and the heart, their respective functions in perception and decision-making, methods of spiritual refinement, and obstacles to vicegerency.
