AT A ‘LONELY’ KL SUMMIT, MAHATHIR TELLS ISLAMIC WORLD THE UGLY TRUTH: ‘NOT A SINGLE MUSLIM COUNTRY IS CONSIDERED DEVELOPED… THEY ARE ALL WEAK,’ SAYS DR M – WHILE ‘RM90 MIL SCANDAL’ HADI, WHOSE PARTY HEADS MALAYSIA’S WEAKEST STATE, NODS & CHEERS

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KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad told the audience at the Kuala Lumpur Summit here today that not a single Muslim country is considered developed despite their immense wealth.

“They are all weak and incapable of protecting the Muslim ummah, even if it is their duty by their religion,” he said in his keynote address.

“If we care to honestly assess our situation, we must admit that we and our religion have become the subject of much vilification and defamation.”

The event which runs until Dec 21 is attended by delegates from about 20 countries including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

In his speech, Mahathir said Muslims and Islam had been equated with terrorism and government failures, acts of irrationality and those unworthy of civilised behaviour.

Adding that Muslim countries are accused of authoritarianism and lacking concern for human rights, he said Muslims could accuse the non-Muslim world of being biased and unjust in their assessments.

“But we cannot deny the facts that there are fratricidal wars in several Muslim countries, that many are beholden to the powerful non-Muslim nations, that Muslims are running away from their own countries to seek refuge in non-Muslim countries,” he said.

He added that Muslims are largely dependent on non-Muslims for many of their needs, to the point where they are unable to equip themselves with the means to ward off attacks by others.

“We depend on our detractors to supply us,” he said, adding that this was a far cry from circumstances in the 15th century when Muslims made advancements in science and engineering, especially the manufacturing of goods.

“But not now.”

On Islamophobia, Mahathir said Muslims were prepared to die to protect Islam and their fellow Muslims, and that some in fact were dying.

“But we have done more damage to our religion by our disreputable acts of terror,” he added.

Under European colonisation, he said, Muslims had lost their countries.

“From this decline, they have not recovered, even after regaining their independence.”

If nothing changed, he said, Muslims would continue to be oppressed and their decline would deepen.

He also said that Muslims could no longer isolate themselves as society has changed.

“No country may remain peopled by 100% Muslims now,” he said. “Other religions, other values, other ways of life affect us even if they do not live among us.”- FMT

Hadi, Asri support initiatives taken in KL Summit

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang supports the government’s initiatives to find new solutions to improve the wellbeing of the ummah at the Kuala Lumpur Summit (KL Summit) 2019.

He also congratulated the government on hosting the summit and for inviting several Muslim leaders to participate in it as well.

“To me, holding a summit like this one in South East Asia is a good move.

“This would be a start of a collaboration to help develop Muslim nations and to resolve their problems at an early stage,” Hadi (above) told reporters after attending the summit opening ceremony in Kuala Lumpur today.

Asked on the programmes and sessions lined up in the summit, he said they were very interesting as they touched not only on politics but also cooperation among Islamic countries for science, technological and economic development.

Meanwhile, Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin (photo) said the summit was a good start to restore Muslim dignity.

He expressed hope, however, that the efforts taken would be continuous to help overcome crises faced by Muslims, which he added have become dire with time.

“I also think that this effort should not be viewed with suspicion by other nations. By right, all Islamic nations should support efforts to uplift the status of Muslims,” he said.

Asri also supported Iranian president Hassan Rouhani’s proposal the KL Summit establish a joint fund to finance technological cooperation among Muslim countries, which he added will be able to reduce dependency on other nations.

He said the fund could be used not only for the development of technology, but also in other fields.

– Bernama