Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 15/06/2008
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia June 9-10. 2008 Excellency Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Prime Minister of Malaysia, Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me, at the outset begin by paying a special tribute to His Excellency Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for the extraordinary leadership he has provided to his people and to his country. During his term as the immediate past Chair of the OIC, Prime Minister Badawi has steered the Muslim world with profound wisdom and sagacity. As Secretary General of the OIC, I was fortunate and privileged to be guided and inspired by his courage, vision and statesmanship. I believe that we all owe him a debt of gratitude for his extraordinary contributions in advancing joint Islamic action. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, The theme of this conference is to move forward from “definition to action” in the efforts to bridge the gap between the West and the Muslim World. This is both appropriate and timely. It was visionary on the part of the organizers of this conference to draw our attention to the fact that there is indeed a gap between the two worlds and to decide on the actions necessary to narrow and close it. The sooner we can do this, the better it will be for us, and for our future generations. The gap that we seek to bridge is not a commodity that can be measured in numbers or monetary terms and resolved through any data processing device. On the contrary, it is one that has been built over time by preconceived attitudes, misperceptions, misgivings, prejudices and ignorance and above all, the failure to recognize its perilous implications. It requires a strong and determined collective political will to address the challenge. The realization to bridge the gap is only half the job. As we see from the title of this debate, it is now high time for concrete actions to stem the rot before it aggravates any further. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I came to know that a graduate student at the University of Virginia created a video game --which has not yet been released—in which players win by beheading the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in order to give a voice to atheists. He said: “Atheists have never really had anything to speak for them like this. It’s the general atheist premise that the world might be a better place without some of those religions.” definitely this kind of moves does not help in bridging de gap that is the reason for our today's encounter. The west has allowed the gap to widen by not taking some timely courageous steps. The Palestine question is perhaps the most glaring example. 60 years have elapsed, and the resolution of the Palestine question still remains on the negotiating table. Many peace initiatives taken by various stakeholders failed make progress because the west remained indifferent to Israeli intransigence to carry on with its illegal occupation of Palestine and Arab territories, building new settlements in the occupied territories and deny the Palestinians of their inalienable right to statehood. The situation in Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan are just some other examples which have contributed to the gap between the Muslim and the Western World. In my estimation, the first and foremost action for us would be to determine our priorities and to bring focus of the international community to the core of the issue, which is accepting the reality of the peaceful coexistence in diversity. The bridge that we envisage must be laid on strong foundations of a committed political will not only to talk, but also to listen and to agree on a solution. In this task, all the stakeholders would have to come out of the confines of preconceived mind sets and to interact constructively and frankly towards a set target. We must have the strength to take a hard look at ourselves to determine our strengths and accept our weaknesses. At the same time we must not stoop low to judge the other as a lesser partner, nor should we try to impinge on the values and beliefs that may not conform to those of our own. We must demonstrate our courage and determination to isolate those who pose impediments in the way of our efforts of bridging the gap. I wish to call your attention to the historical truth that Muslims as a community were never aliens in the West. The expanded European Union of today has in its folds millions of indigenous Muslims who constitute a considerable principal demographic, intellectual and cultural component of Europe dating from the 8th and the 15th centuries. The eight hundred years of Muslim culture in Spain and in other parts of Europe have enriched Western culture and made vital contribution in many fields of human endeavor – in science, astronomy, mathematics, algebra (itself an Arabic word), law, history, medicine, pharmacology, optics, agriculture, architecture, theology, music, etc. When we consider the geographic dimension and demographic reality, we find that Europe’s boundaries from the 14th to the 21st century include parts of the Muslim world, particularly in its Southern and Eastern regions. Demographically, many Muslims in Europe such as Albanians, Bosnians, Pomaks, Torbich, Romans, and the Turks etc. are actually ethnicities of indigenous European origin. Besides, the millions of Muslims who have emigrated to Europe, the US and other Western countries over the past decades and who have become an integral component of Western societies, are proud of their Western identity .Then why this gap that should have never been allowed to be created in the first place. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, The OIC today is the second largest international organization outside the United Nations. We can justly take pride that our Organization has been a pioneer in bringing the concept of Dialogue among Civilizations into the agenda of the international relations as early as 1998 at the UN General Assembly. Since then, we have remained firm and committed in our outreach to the West for meaningful dialogue among civilizations. In recent years, we have expanded the scope and mandate of our activities in taking the task of building bridges with the West beyond rhetoric. The visionary Ten Year Programme of Action that was adopted in the 3rd Extraordinary Summit of the OIC in Makkah in 2005 provides a road map for reconciliation and healing through promoting dialogue and mutual respect and condemning and rejecting extremism and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. In all our interactions, I have made it clear that the Muslim World should not be perceived as an adversary but a partner in peace. We underscored the point that our objective was not to preach but to communicate; to understand and to be understood. We emphasized that the commonalities between Islam and the Christian traditions and culture of the West far outweigh the differences and that these commonalities are the foundations that will hold us together and not set us apart. In this I have on several occasions called for a historical reconciliation between the Muslims and the Christians similar to what has been achieved between Christianity and Judaism. I firmly believe that this is an achievable target and would go a long way in bridging the gap between the two worlds that we are speaking about. Is the West necessarily Christian? It is not, because Europe is also home of Islam, therefore, we should mention it as a Judeo-Christian-Islamic continent. I would be remiss if I do not devote a part of my discourse on the scourge of Islamophobia as it is perhaps the biggest impediment that is keeping alive the gap between the West and the Muslim World. A marginal group of individuals and organizations are actively involved in targeting Muslims and Islam in a campaign of hate and discrimination. Of late, this trend is on the rise. I do not have to relate to this august body of the innumerable incidents where Muslims have come under attack of hate and prejudice and made to suffer discriminatory treatment. The hate mongers have resorted to incite passion and unrest by inflammatory and incendiary remarks and publications against symbols that are sacred to Muslims. The most recent incidents in the campaign of Islamophobia are the reprinting of the cartoons and the film Fitna denigrating Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the Holy Quran. This is not to say that I am absolving those few in the Muslim world who are involved in preaching intolerance. But the technological advancement and the ownership of the media being almost entirely in Western possession, make this unholy competition almost totally lopsided. I believe that the media can be a dominant and effective partner in the bridging process by rejecting the proponents of hatred and intolerance totally. Such reality is well documented in the OIC Observatory Report on Islamophobia that was circulated in the present conference. We are encouraged to see however, that an awareness of the dangers of Islamophobia is gradually setting in the West. The condemnation by many Western leaders and governments of Islamophobic acts such as the Fitna are positive confidence building measures that lead us to believe that all is not lost and that the gap can be closed in time. But mere condemnation or distancing from the acts of the perpetrators of Islamophobia will not resolve the issue as long as they remain free to carry on with their campaign of incitement and provocation on the plea of freedom of expression. We at the OIC have tabled several resolutions at the Human Rights Council in Geneva and at the UN General Assembly calling for coordinated actions to be taken through various means in order to prevent intolerance, discrimination, prejudice and hatred on the grounds of religion and defamation of religions and to promote and ensure respect of all religions. These resolutions were adopted by a significant number of votes. However, these could not obtain consensus since, the West has been reticent in giving their full support. Based on the OIC's approach to engage with our partners in the West, we are busy working out to reach an agreed language that address our concerns. We believe that adoption of such a resolution along with strict implementation of other existing international instruments including the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and national legislations against incitement of hatred on religious grounds would be an effective deterrent against the proponents of religious hatred. To help in bridging the gap separating the Muslim world and the West, I would like to propose the following: 1. An open and critical dialogue between stakeholders in the West and the Muslim world including political leaders with strong commitment, to address the root causes of misunderstandings and conflicts and to come up with a realistic approach towards reaching a Historical Reconciliation Pact between Islam and Christianity is necessary. 2. Western Governments should not be shy in publicly condemning Islamophobic incidents and thus restore the confidence of the Muslim world. 3. Quality and fair education based on shared values and principles of peace, human rights, tolerance etc should be promoted. This may involve parents, teachers, educationists and communities. The above elements should be taken into consideration in the revision of the curricula and the text books. 4. To this end, national legislation and international normative standards or instruments should also be promoted to guard against the defamation of other's values and faiths particularly in school curricula. 5. International and regional organizations should identify, document and analyze best practice approaches at various levels in support of dialogue among cultures and civilization. 6. Communication and media have to play their role in order to avoid parochialism and contribute to the creation of conditions for intercultural dialogue. Discussions may be conducted among media professionals about the ethics and professional standards. Moreover, joint projects of broadcasts, newspapers, magazines and websites by journalist from different cultural backgrounds should be encouraged. 7. The OIC and the Western Groups at the UN offices in Geneva and New Work should work towards a consensus resolution on Combating Discrimination against Muslims and incitement of hatred and violence based on faith. 8. The dialogue on tolerance and peaceful cohabitation among diverse faiths has to be taken to the grassroots and the ordinary people. 9. Efforts should be made to reduce the digital divide between the two worlds and invest on development of human resources. 10. Youths should be involved actively in bridging the Muslim-West divide. Let me conclude by saying that the commitment to bridge the Muslim-West divide is by itself a major achievement. We have to ensure that this momentum is not lost but that it gains in strength and that concrete actions should now overtake rhetoric. I am confident that the initiative taken by Prime Minister Badawi here in Kuala Lumpur is a bold step forward in this regard. The OIC remains devoted to do its part in achieving the coveted goal of bringing the two worlds together. I thank you.
