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Mahathir sez Muslims should show more tolerance
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad yesterday attacked Muslim extremism and called for greater tolerance between Muslims and non-Muslims. Muslims and people of other faiths have to work together, he said. Muslims must accept living with non-Muslims, whether the non-Muslims are in a majority or a minority. He attributed part of Malayisaâs success to tolerance. Its different communities respected each other and each otherâs religions. That is what guaranteed stability. âMuslims should respect other peopleâs religions,â he said, âsince that respect is part of the Islamic tradition.â On Day Two of the Jeddah Economic Forum, his call for tolerance received tremendous applause. His address, lasting almost 50 minutes, electrified the packed hall. Many in attendance had come with expectations of hearing tough talk from the Muslim worldâs leading elder statesman. They were not disappointed and they showed their enthusiasm. His speech was punctuated by applause and he received a standing ovation at the end. Mahathirâs speech was entitled âA Recipe From Malaysia for Growthâ although he began by saying that Malaysia had no such ready recipe. There was, however, a ringing endorsement of the private sector as the engine of growth. âBusiness is not something that governments are good at,â he said. âWhen government takes over business, costs go up and productivity falls.â Before privatization the Malaysian telecom company had constantly to be bailed out by government subsidies. Today, even though there are seven competitors, it makes a handsome profit. The role of the government, he said, was to control inflation as well as raise skills. In his speech Mahathir warned the Kingdom against rushing to join the World Trade Organization. âEverybody should be careful before joining the WTO because it is not all positive. It can be very negative if you donât handle it properly,â Mahathir said. âThey try to impose their agenda without regard for other countries.â He pointed to the positive effect that just a few poor countries, speaking with one voice, had on negotiations at the WTO Cancun summit. Mahathir also stressed the importance of overcoming obstacles and was critical of the Islamic worldâs lack of proactivity. âThat is not what the Qurâan teaches us,â he said. âWhat happens is preordained but the success or failure of our attempts to counter the misfortunes which assail us is also preordained. Had the Prophet (peace be upon him) done nothing to overcome the adversities he faced, Islam would not be our faith today.â Mahathir also emphasized the necessity of learning English to compete in todayâs world. âAlthough Malay is the national language, English was designated as a second language because workers had to take instructions from foreign managers and supervisors who do not understand Malay,â he said. âBesides English is the language of knowledge and learning now as Arabic was during the great days of Islamic civilization.â It was when Mahathir discussed the need for tolerance and integration with non-Muslims that the forum erupted in applause. âIslam does not advocate force in the conversion of non-Muslims. We, therefore, have to accept non-Muslims in our midst.â If this were not permissible, then Muslims could not travel anywhere except to countries that are 100 percent Muslim. It was a two-way process, he said. âWe have to remember that there are many Muslim minorities in non-Muslim countries. As much as we donât like Muslims living in non-Muslim countries to be subjected to any kind of injustice, we would not want non-Muslims to be subjected to any injustices.â Muslims believed in being just and fair and had to be seen to be as such. The applause was spontaneous. Mahathir dismissed the notion that Muslim countries were incapable of progress. âThe fact that for 1,300 years Muslims were the most progressive and the most enlightened people, with great worldly wealth proves that what is said about Muslim states not being governable isnât true. But in the past half century, things have gone wrong.â This, he said was due to âresistance from misguided forces in our own societiesâ â forces that handicapped the Muslim world and blocked progress and prosperity. The Muslim world had become like a runner with a cannonball chained to his leg, he said to further applause. The cannonball has to be removed. Again much applause. Mahathir added that there was no discrimination against women in Malaysia and that they constitute 70 percent of university graduates. With some advice to the Kingdom on its economy, the former Malaysian premier said that it should not depend on one source of income; that is a sure recipe for weakness. He further suggested that Saudi Arabia should sell oil for gold, not dollars, to avoid being âshort-changedâ by a decline in the US currency. âThe price of oil is $33, but the US dollar has declined by 40 percent against the euro so youâre effectively getting $20,â Mahathir told delegates. âYouâre being short-changed.â The delegates loved it all. Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-01-19 |
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