Int Unity in Diversity organiser denies conference to counter KL Summit

The organiser of tomorrow’s International Unity in Diversity Conference 2020 has denied a media report claiming that the event was Anwar Ibrahim’s response to the Kuala Lumpur Summit last month.

Muslim Professionals Forum (MPF) board member Dr Musa Nordin said the timing of the conference, less than a month after the KL Summit - which had been supported by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad and his government - was merely a coincidence.

Instead, he claimed it was initially slated to be held much earlier.

“The conference was first mooted during Anwar’s meeting with (Muslim scholar) Syeikh Omar Sulaiman while they were both performing the Hajj in July last year.

“However, due to Omar’s tight schedule, the conference could not be held sooner. Omar suggested the date be sometime in the first week of January when he would be in Malaysia for his programme with Al-Maghrib (Institute), which coincidentally was a month after the KL Summit,” he told Malaysiakini.

Meanwhile, he claimed the KL Summit was only conceptualised in September when Mahathir met with Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at the United Nations General Assembly.

The MPF is one of the organisers of the conference, along with The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) dan Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim).

This comes following a report by portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT) that the conference was the prime minister-in-waiting Anwar’s response to the KL Summit.

The report claimed the PKR chief had intentionally “gathered a group of Muslim scholars seen as more ‘theologically aligned’ with Saudi Arabia”.

The KL Summit saw a gathering of Islamic leaders, including from Iran, Turkey and Qatar as well as over 400 delegates from 56 countries, but proved controversial as it was snubbed by Saudi Arabia.

Indonesian President Jokowi Widodo and Imran had also later pulled out, claiming they were unable to attend.

The Prime Minister’s Office had to clarify that the summit, an NGO initiative, was not intended to create a new bloc to replace the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

This was as critics raised concerns that the first-time KL Summit would be a parallel platform against the OIC.

Instead, the summit aimed to, among others, deliberate and find new and workable solutions to problems afflicting the Muslim world.

It was reported that Anwar had not attended the event.

“So for FMT to suggest and claim that this conference is Anwar's answer to Mahathir's KL Summit is not only mischievous but sadly, a case of irresponsible journalism.

“The least FMT could have done was to consult with the organisers of this event to gain correct information before publishing their piece,” he said when contacted.

He further accused the portal of trying to “sow discord and division” between Mahathir and Anwar.

The latter is slated to be the keynote speaker at the conference, which will also feature his daughter, Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah, as well as Omar from the US, Islamic educator Nuruddin Lemu from Nigeria, and Pakistani-American Muslim scholar Yasir Qadhi.

Elaborating on the conference, Musa said the selection of the speakers was made based on the criteria that they were social activists, experts on da’wah (Islamic preaching), practise a moderate approach and were close to efforts on interfaith relationship and engagements.

Musa had, together with MPF secretary Azra Banu, earlier issued a statement in which he described Yasir, Omar and Nuruddin as experts in unravelling complexities and blessings contained in the Quran, aside from "original traditions" of the Prophet Muhammad.

He also said the trio was capable of resolving problems faced by the Muslim community through suggestions based on principles of tauhid (belief in one God) and real politics. - Mkini