Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Allow me to begin by congratulating you, Mr
President, on your election. I offer you Malaysia’s full cooperation and
support as you seek to further the cause of peace and prosperity.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Three years ago, I stood before you and called for a
Global Movement of Moderates. It was a call to reject extremism in all
its forms, because the real divide is not between East and West or
between the developed and developing worlds or between Muslims,
Christians and Jews. It is between moderates and extremists of all
religions.
Much has changed since 2010, when a current of
protest and reform surged through the Middle East and North Africa. Out
of the heat of the Arab Spring, new questions arose: about the pace of
democratic change, about the role of Islam in politics, and about the
need for more inclusive development. But the search for answers to those
questions has been put on hold.
As authoritarian regimes have fallen, and governments
have been swept away by political change, extremists have tried to fill
the space that remains. Motivated by ideology, politics and religion,
they have sought refuge from the hard work of development in the unholy
practice of violence.
Conflicts have spilled across borders, inflaming old
tensions, and igniting new ones. Around the world, extremism is taking
lives and crushing opportunity. This affects us all; but it is one
people, of one faith, who suffer most. I believe the greatest threat to
Muslims today comes not from the outside world, but from within.
The conflict between Sunni and Shia threatens the
lives and livelihoods of millions of Muslims. Our religion – founded on
peace, and premised on tolerance – is being twisted by extremists, who
are deploying false arguments to foster division and justify violence.
Across the Islamic world, extremists are wrapping
their perverse agenda in religious cloth; tearing families, countries
and the ummah apart. With each new atrocity, tensions are wound tighter,
and peace seems further away.
The corrosive influence of extremism cannot be easily
countered. But we are not powerless to act. I believe moderation in
religion and the political process can stem the loss of life and liberty
in the Muslim world.
Behind the tragic violence, there is a battle being
waged for the future of Islam. By reaffirming our commitment to
moderation – and solving the political problems that drive instability –
we can seize back the centre ground. We can marginalise the extremists.
And we can advance an agenda for peace, harmony and justice.
Around the world, Muslims have watched in despair as
conflict tears into some of our oldest communities. Rarely in our
history has the ummah faced violence on this scale.
Right now, the world’s attention is rightly focused
on Syria. United Nations investigators have concluded that the focus of
the war has shifted along ethnic and religious lines, and become
‘overtly sectarian’. A conflict which began with anti-government
protests threatens to descend into a war of ethnic cleansing.
With fighters from Hezbollah engaging on Syrian soil,
the conflict now threatens Lebanon too. Last month, after car bombs
killed dozens in Beirut, 42 people died in explosions outside Sunni
mosques. Communities are dividing along religious lines, with hard-line
preachers urging violence between Sunni and Shia.
Meanwhile, the security situation in Iraq continues
to unravel, as Sunni extremist groups and Shia militia struggle for
control. In the last four months, nearly 3,000 people have been killed.
In the last week alone, three funerals have been bombed in Baghdad.
Women and children have been blown apart whilst mourning.
Again, the violence is carried out between Sunni and
Shia. In one Iraqi town, four children from one Shia family were slain
with knives. In another, local people – neighbours for generations –
have built blast walls to keep themselves apart. Forced displacements
are growing.
In Pakistan, bombings have wrecked the city of
Quetta, killing hundreds. Revenge attacks spread to Lahore; bombs have
been detonated in Karachi. In August, militants ambushed buses, dividing
the passengers according to belief; those who answered incorrectly were
executed.
Each of these conflicts has a distinct cause, but
they follow a darkly familiar path. Emboldened by political failures,
radical preachers and militant groups turn civil conflicts into wider
religious wars. Yet the preaching of such violence is completely counter
to the Islamic faith.
The Quran not only condemns suicide, unjust war, and
retribution by force; it also makes clear the Prophet’s desire for
Muslims to live in peace with one another and their neighbours.
Verse 8:61 says, ‘And if they incline to peace, then
incline to it [also] and rely upon Allah’. Verse 5:32, that ‘whoever
kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land – it
is as if he had slain mankind entirely’. And verse 2:256 holds that
‘there shall be no compulsion in religion’.
It should come as no surprise that there is no
scriptural basis for the atrocities being committed in the name of
Islam. Under the six higher objectives of Islamic law, the first and
foremost is the protection and preservation of life. Yet even during
Ramadan, our holy month – when contemplation, devotion and compassion
reign uppermost in Muslim minds – the extremists would not stop. More
than 4,400 people died this Ramadan in Syria; 371 in Iraq; 120 in
Pakistan.
This is a burden we can no longer afford to bear. It
is time to end the killing, and concentrate instead on building a common
agenda for peace and prosperity. There are two things we can do.
First of all, I believe that peace-loving Muslims –
the overwhelming majority of Muslims – should unite against the
extremists who use our religion as an excuse to commit violence. And one
of the most powerful tools we have to do so is al-wasatiyyah: the
practice of moderation.
Verse 2:143 of the Quran says that ‘we have made you
into a community that is justly balanced’. This concept – of balance and
moderation, of social justice within our faith – is a central tenet of
Islam. It asks of us that we hold to the principles displayed by the
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the Medina Charter.
Our task is to reclaim our faith, by articulating
clearly the true nature of Islam: the religion of peace, of moderation,
of tolerance. We should speak this message clearly, so that all may hear
it; and stand firm against the minority who use Islam to further
violent and unjust ends.
We should not mistake moderation for weakness. To
face those baying for violence and call instead for calm is a sign not
of frailty, but of strength. Muslim leaders should speak up and condemn
such violence, lest their silence is mistaken for acceptance.
Moderation can be practiced at the national level, as
is the case in Malaysia, by choosing mutual respect and inclusivity,
and strengthening the bonds between different communities and faiths.
All countries should reinforce their commitment to the principles of
moderation; not just in religion, but for sustainable development and
stable economic growth.
Moderation can also direct regional policy. It sits
at the heart of Malaysia’s efforts to bring peace to the southern
Philippines, and to Thailand’s restive south. And ASEAN, which endorsed
the Global Movement of Moderates, has made a commitment to peaceful
settlement and the non use of force in territorial disputes.
And at the international level, moderation can guide
our approach to the great global challenges of our age: violent
extremism, sustainable development, and equitable growth.
Secondly, we should give our all to resolve the
political problems which raise tensions in the Muslim world – starting
with Syria.
We cannot underline strongly enough the need for a
Syrian-led inclusive political process. Malaysia is against any
unilateral action to resolve the conflict. All sides must come together
to work out a political settlement. We welcome the recent US-Russia
Framework Agreement, condemn without reservation the use of chemical
weapons, and call on the international community to intensify their
efforts to explore all possible diplomatic options for peace under the
auspices of the UN.
We must also find the vision and the political will
to commit to a just solution for Palestine. We fervently hope that
progress towards a viable Palestinian state – based on pre-1967 borders,
and with East Jerusalem as its capital – will be made, and that the US
and other members of the Quartet continue to play their role as honest
brokers in the process. Only with peace can there be development and
dignity for the Palestinian people.
Finally, we should continue to focus on building
stronger and more prosperous societies, predicated on the rule of law
and the practice of democracy. The Arab Spring showed that the Muslim
world is crying out for change. Governments must answer that call. We
must provide good governance to fight corruption, create jobs to tackle
poverty, and deliver sustainable growth that builds a world of
opportunity for our citizens. We must create economies in which people
can fulfil their own aspirations, not those of extremists.
By acting to solve our most difficult political
problems, we can bring an end to the immediate suffering – in Syria, in
Palestine, and in the wider world. By committing to the cause of
moderation, Muslims can secure something even greater.
We can reclaim our religion, choosing harmony and
acceptance over division and conflict. And we can broadcast a vision of
Islam as it is understood by Muslims around the world: as a religion of
peace, tolerance, and moderation.
Last month, when militants attacked those buses in
Pakistan, a 19 year-old Sunni student named Ghulam Mustafa stood up for
such a vision. Confronting the Sunni gunmen, he said killing Shiites was
wrong. Ghulam was shot dead, but his life was not lost in vain. With
guns to their heads, the Sunnis on the bus refused to identify the Shia
passengers who the gunmen wanted to kill.
In their defiance, we see the true measure of
courage, and the true test of faith. Under unimaginable pressure, facing
the greatest possible threat, they chose to stand with their brothers
and sisters. They chose unity over division.
Faced with unimaginable pressure, and the greatest possible threat, we must summon the will to do the same.
Thank you.
(Source: http://www.1malaysia.com.my)
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