SCHOLAR: MALAYSIA AN EXAMPLE OF MODERN POLITICAL WISDOM FOR MUSLIMS
Kuala Lumpur, 3 Sha’ban 1435/1 June, 2014 (MINA) – Malaysia is an example of the political wisdom of which Muslims in the modern world are capable of, says prominent Muslim scholar Dr Farhan Ahmad Nizami.
In his observation, he said Malaysia had demonstrated that where social and historical circumstances permitted and outside influences did not prevent, Muslims could build a stable society alongside non-Muslims, Malaysian national news agency, Bernama quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Sunday.
The Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies founder director said Malaysia was a thriving nation whose Muslims, through their embrace of modernity, remained true to what was universal in their cultural and religious values.
“I know there are tensions. But the point is that ways have been learnt to contain the tensions, and they are ways of peace. Differences, intelligently managed have been converted into the advantages of diversity and moderation,” he said when delivering his lecture at the Putrajaya Premier Lecture Series at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) here Tuesday.
The lecture entitled, ‘Past Achievements and Present Challenges in the Muslim World’ was also attended by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Communication and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
Farhan said with the guiding principle of ’1Malaysia’, the political space was safe for its different communities where ethnic and cultural differences held, as well as peace between them.
He said the success of pluralism in Malaysia was inspired by religious conviction and sustained by it.
“Malaysia’s political stability has been accompanied by equally impressive economic development…It is Malaysia which took the lead in setting up World Islamic Economic Forum. This initiative carries forward years of effort to improve economic co-operation among Muslim countries,” he added.
Global Coalition of Moderates
He said with Malaysia’s initiative, Global Coalition of Moderates, it could project the message to many others in various international fora, including the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Commonwealth and the upcoming Asean chairmanship.
“The message is listened to, because it is supported by a lived, achieved example.”
Farhan also proposed the establishment of a National Endowment for the Humanities in Malaysia, which would over time, contribute in reducing the flow of cultural products from the West into the Islamic world which would inhibit and paralyse local cultural idioms.
“It is not an easy discipline…if practised properly and sustained, its fruit is tolerance and peaceful co-existence with others of the same and other faiths,” he said.
Farhan said Muslim identity today was not sufficiently relevant to how things were done in the world, especially in the collective spheres of life because it was not the engine of prosperity, knowledge, political and legal order.
He said being Muslim was no longer the currency of exchange, neither among Muslims themselves, nor between them and non-Muslims.
“To make it so again is a task of huge scale and complexity. Our first priority must be to establish institutions and forums so that the present challenges are properly identified, and then try to guide expectations towards realistic, achievable goals,” he said. (T/E01/IR)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
