Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR.
MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : PALACE OF THE GOLDEN HORSES,
KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 30/12/99
Tajuk/Title : THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF
RELIGIOUS STUDIES:
" MEETING THE MILLENNIUM "
I would like to congratulate the organisers of
this International Conference of Religious Studies for
their initiative in organising this meeting on
`Religion in the 21st Century - A Civilisational
Prospective'.
2. Although the focus is mainly on the religious
beliefs of the Chinese, beliefs which are based on
Buddhism, Taoism and the teachings of various Chinese
philosophers such as Confucius, you have also included
a paper on `The Wisdom of the Al-Quran in modern time'.
I think it is important that in such a discussion on
the role of religion, Islam should also be given a
hearing.
3. I say this because Islam is the most misunderstood
religion today. It is misunderstood not only by non-
Muslims but by Muslims themselves. Such is the
misunderstanding of Muslims about their religion that
they have erected a tall barrier against access to it
and to the Muslims themselves by non-Muslims. They
seem to have forgotten that most Muslims had ancestors
who were not Muslims but who were converted to Islam
because they came into contact with Muslims. Had the
Muslims of the past rejected contact with non-Muslims
then the ancestors of the present day Muslim would not
have learnt about Islam and would not have converted to
Islam. If they had not then the present day Muslim
might have been born non-Muslim and would not be
Muslims.
4. There are of course other manifestations of a lack
of understanding of Islam among Muslims. A glaring
example is the rejection of the Islamic concept and
belief that all Muslims are brothers. The followers of
various Muslim sects invariably regard the followers of
other sects as being un-Islamic or not Muslim enough
and are therefore not to be treated as brothers. Today
with the emergence of political parties, the practising
Muslim members of certain political parties are
condemned as not being truly Muslim and are treated
worse than non-Muslims by members of the opposing
political parties.
5. Muslim nations are often at war with one another,
a state of affairs that cannot be considered as
brotherly.
6. If Muslims truly understand Islam then they would
regard each other as brothers even if they have
political, national or racial differences between them.
We know of instances where practising Muslims refuse to
pray together with other Muslims because of political
differences.
7. Despite the repeated injunction that Muslims must
seek well-being in this life as much as in the
hereafter, many Muslims believe that a Muslim should
only seek merit for the next world. Consequently he
neglects his well-being in this world and this results
in Muslims becoming poor and unable to help themselves
and to prevent themselves from being oppressed by
others. The tragedies of Bosnia, Kosovo and many West
Asian and Central Asian Muslim countries are due to
this.
8. The Muslims' failure to understand his own
religion is nothing compared to the failure of the non-
Muslims, in particular the ethnic Europeans, to
understand the Muslims and their religion. There is a
historical basis for this. The long period of Muslim
dominance and occupation of substantial parts of Europe
has permanently affected the European psyche. The
Crusade against the Muslims, the struggle to liberate
Europe and the Holy land from the Muslims seems
unending. Initially it was Christianity which the
Europeans wanted to defend and save. But now it is
just the memory of an inglorious past, of Muslim
overlordship which influence the thinking and attitude
of the Europeans towards Islam and the Muslims.
9. The Muslim countries and peoples of today are so
weak that there can never be a repeat of the Muslim
conquest of Europe. But the fear is still nascent.
Responding to this fear the Europeans tend to distrust
and suppress Muslims everywhere. They do this quite
unconsciously, sometimes speaking to Muslims about the
need to suppress other Muslims without thinking that
their listeners might not be sympathetic to their
views.
10. The Turkish empire occupied most of Eastern Europe
for centuries. It came near to capturing Vienna, a
feat which would have opened the flood-gates to Islam
in Europe itself. As we can see now in the former
Yugoslavia, ethnic Europeans did convert to Islam and
have remained faithful to the religion despite decades
of atheistic Communist rule. It is not unthinkable
that had the Muslims conquered Central Europe, Islam
could today be the faith of many Europeans. To
Christian Europeans, whether nominal or practising,
this would have been a tragedy of horrendous
proportions.
11. The fall of the Turkish Empire was engineered by
the Europeans, principally the French and the British.
They stirred up nationalist sentiments among the Arab
subjects of the Turks and helped them to throw off the
Turkish yoke. But the Arabs soon found that it was not
independence that they gained. All the Arab land freed
from the Turks were colonised by the British and the
French. The Arabs realised too late that they had
exchanged Muslim overlords for Christian European
overlords.
12. As much as the Europeans remember the Muslim
conquest of their land, the Arab Muslims remember how
they had been cheated into overthrowing Turkish Muslim
rule for European Christian rule. Whereas Muslims in
the past could live side by side with Christians, now
they identify Christianity with the Europeans and they
develop an aversion to the religion. That a
significant number of Arabs are Christians and are also
anti-European have not mitigated their animosity
towards the Christian Europeans.
13. For years after the fall of the Turkish Empire the
Arabs in West Asia and Northern Africa struggled
mightily to liberate themselves from European
colonialism. They fought conventional as well as
guerilla wars against their colonial oppressors and
inflicted large numbers of casualties.
14. The bitterness against the Europeans built up to
uncontrollable rage as they fought. Finally they won
their independence. But the single Muslim empire had
been carved up into numerous nation states which were
and still are very weak. There is no replacement for
the Turkish nation which was a European power and had
protected the Muslims. Rivalry between the Arab states
also ensured that none can ever become strong.
15. The animosity of the Arab Muslims towards the
European could have abated with their attainment of
independence. Unfortunately the European powers left a
festering sore which cannot be healed. While allowing
the Arabs to regain their territories, the Europeans
decided to make Palestine the homeland of the Jews; a
project which would rid Europe of its Jewish problem.
16. At the time when Palestine was made a Jewish
state, there was only a small number of Jews living in
peace with a huge majority of Arabs. Naturally the
Arabs regarded the creation of Israel as an act of
expropriating their land by the Europeans in order to
appease the Jews and solve their Jewish problem. With
this the seeds of future Arab violence against all that
represent the Europeans were sown.
17. Conventional wars can be fought between sovereign
nations no matter their relative sizes. But
conventional wars failed as Arab nations tried to
dislodge the Israelis. The only way for the Arabs to
fight against what they perceive as gross injustice was
to resort to guerilla warfare.
18. Throughout the ages the Europeans have
demonstrated innovativeness in warfare. Terrorist
methods which involve putting innocent people at risk
and killing them are largely European inventions. Some
of these terroristic acts are state initiatied.
19. In the 60's and early 70's terrorists gangs abound
in Europe. The Baader-Meinhof gang is one of them. It
was the Europeans who carried out the first hijacking
of a commercial plane. In Northern Ireland bombs were
exploded in the cities, killing men, women and
children.
20. The Arabs soon learnt the methods of terrorism as
they seek to regain Palestine. They hijacked planes,
they bombed buildings and they rampaged with blazing
guns against everyone, their own people largely but
also against the hated Europeans.
21. There is no doubt that their methods are those of
terrorists. But whereas others were called just
terrorists, the Arabs were labelled Muslim terrorists.
It is known that a few of the Arab terrorists were
Christians but the label Muslim terrorists is still
stuck to them.
22. This labelling is a manifestation of the lack of
understanding of Islam. Difficult though it is to
believe, Islam is actually a religion of peace. The
word "Islam" itself has its root in the Arab word for
peace.
23. Long before Islam came to the Arabs they were
divided into many feuding tribes who fought each other
incessantly. Peace was something that all of them
yearned for but never seem to get. Just as in famine
prone China the usual form of greeting is "Have you
eaten", among the warring tribes of Arabia this
yearning for peace is expressed by wishing "Peace be on
You" when they meet. Incidently the Jews who also
belong to West Asia greet people with the salutation
"Shalom" which has the same connotation as "salaam" or
peace.
24. It is natural therefore for Islam to emphasise
peace, to unite the warring Arab tribes, to unite the
Muslims so they will all live in peace. Islam
emphatically rejects war as a solution to conflicts
between people. Muslims may only fight if they are
attacked by others.
25. But Western historians invariably attributed the
spread of Islam to the sword. If we look into the
history of Christianity we would find many incidences
of violence, torture and burnings at the stake as means
to spread the gospel. Muslim historians have never
spoken of these instances of violence as being a common
feature in the spread of Christianity.
26. Clearly the Europeans tend to forget or ignore
their own propensity for violence when they glibly talk
of "Muslim Terrorists". They ignore the fact that more
Muslims are killed by non-Muslims as in Bosnia
Herzegovina then non-Muslims being killed by Muslim
terrorists. They never ever talk of Christian
terrorists or Buddhist terrorists or Hindu terrorists.
But they never miss to link the religion of the
terrorist if he happens to be Muslim. Such is the
extent of their misunderstanding.
27. The Malays of Malaysia are all Muslims. The
history of Malaya and Malaysia is clearly one of
peaceful coexistence between the Malay Muslims and the
non-Malay followers of numerous religions. Even the
1969 racial clashes were not religious in character.
They were racial. Since then the Malay Muslims have
lived in harmony with the non-Malay non-Islamic people.
28. Although Malaysia is governed by predominantly
Malay Muslim Governments there has been no attempt to
oppress the non-Muslims. The Government of Malaysia is
very tolerant and show respect for the religious
observances of the different religious groups. No one
can say that by being so it is not Islamic.
29. Lately we are seeing some aberrations but these
are the exceptions which actually proves the rule. A
country with a Muslim majority in power can ensure
fairness and justice for everyone irrespective of
religion or race.
30. Religion is still very relevant in the Malaysian
multi-religious society. To ignore it or to side-line
it would be unwise. A totally secular society cannot
be created in Malaysia. The religions of the people
must play their role.
31. Islam has been accepted as the official religion
of this country but other religions are free to be
practised in Malaysia. In other countries where the
official religion is also the religion of almost every
citizen, the freedom to practice other religions is not
of great consequence. But in Malaysia where Islam is
the religion of only 60 percent of the people, not only
is freedom to practice other religions very meaningful
and important but it implies an acceptance of tolerance
and accommodation on the part of the majority Muslims.
32. This is where the understanding of the official
religion is very necessary. If the official religion
is mysterious and its practice is hidden then there is
bound to be suspicions and fear. There would be fear
that the teachings of the official religion would be
imposed on the followers of other religions. There
would be fear that obstacles would be put in the way of
other religions. There would be fear of forced
conversions etc.
33. It is imperative therefore that the Muslims in
this country practise their religion not in seclusion
but in full view of all the peoples of this country
irrespective of their faiths. While non-Muslims should
not be required to participate in any religious
rituals, they should not be denied their presence when
such rituals are carried.
34. We are fortunate that in this country the
recitation of the "doa" or Muslim prayers before any
event is accepted by everyone. Each can pray according
to his own faith as the Muslim prayers are recited.
35. Another phenomenon that we see in this country is
the joint celebration of religious festivals. Open-
houses during religious festivals have brought the
peoples of different faiths together and without doubt
this has brought about greater understanding if not of
each other's religions, at least of each other's
culture.
36. Even more interesting is the breaking of the fast
during Ramadan. Hotels and restaurants prepare food
for the Muslims to break their fasts, but non-Muslims
join in, respectfully refraining from having their
buffet meals until their Muslim brothers break their
fasts.
37. The diversity of religious practices which in
other countries have resulted in violent clashes, have,
in Malaysia, resulted in bringing the followers of
different religions together. Malaysia's remarkable
unity in diversity is the result of the openness in the
practice of the different religions and in particular
the religion of the majority, the official religion of
Islam.
38. I believe that religions will still have a role in
the 21st century. We are seeing now a swing towards
total materialism in the West, where wealth alone is
expected to bring about happiness and a better quality
of life. But we have only recently experienced how the
quest for unlimited wealth by the avaricious can
destroy the tranquility of life in our country.
Without a religious anchor we would have despaired.
But we did not because we could fall back upon our
spiritual values. Calmed by our spiritual beliefs we
were able to face the material problems of our life, to
understand them and to overcome them. Without
spiritual beliefs it is doubtful that we can overcome
the challenges without becoming unbalanced.
39. I believe that you are holding this conference at
the right time. Many societies have discarded
spiritual values and they often become unbalanced and
feel lost when faced with the vicissitudes of life.
40. Religion according to Karl Marx is the opium of
life. But religions have survived and will continue to
survive long after Marx and his ideology is relegated
to the history books. Clearly ideologies invented by
man cannot replace religions.
41. It is appropriate that you should choose to
discuss religion in the 21st Century at this
conference.
42. I wish you a very successful meeting.
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