Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : KUWAIT
Tarikh/Date : 28/01/87
Tajuk/Title : THE FIFTH ISLAMIC SUMMIT
Bismillahir rahmanir rahim.
Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Your Highness Sheikh Jabir Al Sabah,
Chairman of the Fifth Islamic Summit;
Your Majesties;
Your Excellencies.
May I, at the outset, express our deep appreciation and
gratitude to the State of Kuwait for holding the Fifth
Islamic Summit in this magnificent and hospitable city of
Kuwait. Kuwait symbolises much of the strength and
achievement of an advanced and progressive Islamic state,
with which Malaysia is honoured to be in close and friendly
relations. The choice of Kuwait as the venue of the Summit
is very appropriate. The efficiency, hospitality and
earnestness which have been shown here testify to the
sincere commitment of the government and the people of
Kuwait towards the cause of Islam, the Ummah and Islamic
solidarity.
2. On behalf of the Malaysian delegation, I would like to
thank His Highness and His Highness's government for the
warm hospitality and courtesy extended to us.
Mr. Chairman,
3. May I also extend to His Highness Sheikh Jabir Al Sabah
our sincere felicitations on his unanimous election as
Chairman of this august gathering. His election is
testimony to the recognition and respect that he enjoys as
an illustrious statesman of great experience and outstanding
ability. Under his wise guidance, I am confident that this
assembly will be able to complete its work successfully and
with distinction. We assure His Highness, that Malaysia
would give its full support and cooperation towards the
success of the Conference.
Mr. Chairman,
4. I would also like to express our happiness and
satisfaction over the presence of Egypt at this meeting. I
am sure Egypt's presence will contribute much towards the
objectives of the Organisations.
5. Our gathering is essentially different from meetings of
other fora. Though many or even all of us belong to other
groupings, our congregation in this manner every 3 years,
while representing a community of nations is also a meeting
of the Islamic Ummah in consonance with the injunctions of
our holy religion, Islam. While we are Kings, Presidents
and Prime Ministers, we are all faithful servants of Allah,
and in accordance with the teachings of the religion of
Allah, we must try, despite our human frailties and
weaknesses, to common good of the Islamic Ummah. The mantle
of power that each of us wear as leaders in our own
countries is but nothing before Allah if it is not used for
the betterment of the Islamic world and the Ummah.
6. The Islamic World may be fragmented into numerous
political and ethnic entities but the brotherhood of the
Ummah must and should transcend these divisions. For good
or for bad, the 900 million Muslim Ummah impacts upon the
world at large. Our issues have become issues of world
concern. Our wars have threatened the fabric of
international peace. Whether we like it or not, we are as
accountable to humanity as we are to the Ummah. In the eyes
of Allah this is as it should be, for Muslims are as much
the custodians of this world as are the others.
7. We can speak of the past glory of Islam, but really
this is an admission of our present decline. The past is
irrelevant and meaningless unless it teaches us the way out
of our present failures. There must be lessons from history
which can help us overcome our present problems; help us
achieve greatness again. Indeed the Hadith, the true
traditions of the Prophet are a part of our historical
heritage, and are meant to guide us. But we frequently
ignore them in favour of our ambitions and passions.
8. If the Muslim world was before like a meteor containing
within it the human treasury of knowledge, the wisdom and
insights that have made permanent contributions to the
betterment of mankind, today it is weak and divided. The
spirit of Islam is missing. Unity and brotherhood is
largely absent. We are left only with the rituals in most
cases.
9. That the machinations of the outside powers have
resulted in the appearance within our midst of the State of
Israel intended to permanently drive a stake into our hearts
is undeniable. It is equally undeniable that our eclipse
came also from our own weaknesses as we let our ambitions
and passions take over. Driven by doctrines alien to us, we
have built walls around ourselves so that our common faith,
Islam, can no longer penetrate and bring us together. We
fight wars and forment revolutions and interfere in the
affairs of our Islamic neighbours in furtherance of our
ideology or the needs of our mentors.
Mr. Chairman,
10. The Conference of Heads of States and Heads of
Government of Islamic countries is the supreme gathering of
the Muslim world. It must be here that we ponder and
deliberate over problems and issues by falling back on the
essence of our faith for the further progress of the Muslim
world and Ummah. If we meet in a salubrious surrounding
such as this only to repeat yet again the points we made at
the General Assembly of the United Nations or the
Non-Aligned Movement, it will all add up to a wasteful and
futile exercise. It pains us to have other outside our fold
talk with derision of our fractious gatherings, all sound
and fury from which emerge little that is of consequence.
11. The world around us has changed tremendously, due in
some measure to the enlightenment that Islam brought to the
world in the early centuries after the demise of the
Prophet. It is questionable whether in the context of a
world of scientific advances and an accelerated process of
change, we from the Muslim world have taken our rightful
place. If we have not we must refocus our attention to the
changing world outside or else the Muslim people will be
left forever at the periphery, helpless even to defend
ourselves and our faith. In essence we must rekindle the
vision of a dynamic Muslim community. The fallacy of
regarding the Islamic way of life as confined solely to
codifying the 'dos' and 'don'ts' will shut the gates of
'IJTIHAD' - the quest of knowledge, judgement and reason in
accord with Muslim values and mind. It is time that we
discard outdated interpretations which still linger in our
thinking that this world and all its wealth and potentials
are not for us - that our reward is purely in the Hereafter.
Mr. Chairman,
12. Economic and technological progress in the Muslim world
has been tortuously slow. Islamic nations reel under the
impact of a world economic recession and an increasingly
uncooperative developed world. These are the realities.
Whether we like it or not, what others do will affect us.
We cannot shut ourselves in as we used to do in the days of
the camel and the sailing ships. If Islam is for all times,
then its followers must know how to handle the changes that
affect us.
13. With North-South efforts abandoned, greater effort must
be made for the implementation of a network of cooperation
among member states of the OIC and other developing
countries. While this will take time to materialise it is
important that a start should be made now. We appreciate
the special efforts of Turkey as Chairman of the Standing
Committee on Economic and Commercial Cooperation.
Mr. Chairman,
14. In the eyes of Allah Subhanahu Wataala, all Muslims are
equal. If they differ it is only in the degree of their
submission to the will of Allah. In the affairs of the
Muslim world, all Muslim have equal right to be concerned
and to act. No particular race or nation or ethnic group
has more right than others when something that affects the
Faith and the well-being of Muslims is involved.
15. We deserve, therefore, to have our affairs and our
problems given equal and fair treatment. Yet, we find that
on the basis of Islamic universalism, some countries claim
special right's to disregard boundaries and sovereignty.
However, these same countries object to the slightest
violation of their own territories.
16. We would like to think that the Muslim Ummah forms just
one single integrated community unseparated by boundaries of
race or worldly ideologies. And indeed they do belong to
one community when their faith and religion is threatened or
besmirched. But otherwise there is a need to acknowledge
that we do belong to separate countries and races in matters
that do not threaten the Ummah as a whole. There should
therefore be no interference in the purely domestic affairs
of each other. There should be no subversion or instigation
merely because we do not like the rulers of a particular
Muslim country or their system.
17. Yet we find that the problems of the Middle East have
become a web of power rivalries and intrigues among Muslim
states to the extent that the central issue that is the
restoration to the Palestinians their homeland and to end
the desecration on our holy shrines in Al Quds has been
side-stepped? Why have we, through our strife and discord,
enfeebled ourselves to the extent that there is hardly any
resistance left against the rampaging Zionists? Any
perceptible chance of a real solution in the Middle East now
depends primarily on the initiatives of others, not us. We
have at various OIC meetings declared our unity of purposes
on this matter but the fact is, we remain in disarray. When
we should all be behind the PLO, some of us plot for the
downfall of its acknowledged leader, Yasser Arafat.
18. The Iraq-Iran war is further evidence of the
manipulation of religion in the interest of narrow
nationalism. The war has become a monster, a vehicle for
the destruction of Muslims and their faith. We see and we
know of the hands of superpowers in the perpetuation of this
hideous war. We know they want to perpetuate this war for
their own purpose, to ensure the continued weakness of
Muslim countries and prevent the solution of the Palestinian
problem. But it is saddening that there should be Muslim
countries, knowing all these, working hand in glove with the
enemies.
Mr. Chairman,
19. Islam is concerned with justice everywhere. Justice is
not for Muslims alone. It is for everyone. Just as we do
not want to see Muslims oppressed, we cannot just stand
apart and watch others being oppressed with injustice. It
is for this reason that we must strive to bring about the
demise of the apartheid regime of South Africa. If there
are Muslims in South Africa who are also oppressed, we
should be even more concerned. It behoves us to cut all
trade and economic connections with the dastardly regime of
South Africa.
20. Malaysia is also gratified that two major issues have
now been included in the agenda of the OIC. I refer to the
status of Antartica and the drug problem. The concern of
this Conference will strengthen the efforts to make
Antarctica accessible to everyone, while the fight against
drug addiction will be more like to yield result.
21. There is a catalogue of other problems and tragedies in
the Muslim world which have already been mentioned by others
in this debate. I do not propose to repeat them except to
say that I share the views expressed. Fortunately the grim
picture that has been painted is pierced by one small ray of
hope.
22. For a long time the OIC has been striving to bring to a
successful conclusion the struggle of the Moro people of the
Philippines. The efforts of the OIC have now resulted in an
agreement which will accord autonomy to the islands peopled
by Muslims. We congratulate the office of the OIC which has
helped in bringing about this agreement. We hope that both
side will honour the agreement and this problem in the
Islamic world can be taken off our agenda.
Mr. Chairman,
23. Malaysia hopes that this Conference will be fruitful
for the Ummah and the Muslim nations. We pray for peace
among Muslims and we pray for all those Muslims and Muslims
nations struggling to be free from alien oppressors.
24. Malaysia will play its role as a Muslim nation without
fear or favour and will continue to support the Organisation
of Islamic Conference in its work towards Islamic unity and
the well-being of the Ummah.
Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
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