By Abdul Muin Abdul Majid, Bernama
Dakar : Malaysia urged the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to mount a defence against extremism and Islamophobia and strive to grow through self-reliance as it handed over the chairmanship of the grouping to Senegal Thursday after four-and-a-half years at the helm.
Senate President Tan Sri Dr Abdul Hamid Pawanteh represented Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in handing over the OIC chairmanship baton to Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade at the start of the 11th OIC Summit at the Meridien President hotel here.
In his speech read out by Dr Abdul Hamid, Abdullah stressed the need for the OIC, the 57-member Jeddah-based organisation led by Malaysia following the 10th OIC Summit in Putrajaya, to serve as the voice of Muslims in international fora.
“The OIC is not only a platform for cooperation among the ummah (Muslim community) but also the stage for them to launch its defence against extremism and Islamophobia at the international level,” he said, referring to the menace that has become a major cause of concern for the Muslim world.
In addition, he said, the OIC must play the role of catalyst and provider for the economic and social development of Muslim countries, especially the least developed members of the OIC.
“We can’t afford to be left behind. As a priority, we must exert joint efforts to remove the shackles of poverty still afflicting millions of our fellow Muslims in many parts of the world.
“It is for us to shape our own destiny and therefore we must aim to grow through self-reliance,” Abdullah told the OIC leaders gathered in Dakar for the summit, the second to be hosted by this west African country of about 12 million people facing the Atlantic Ocean. Senegal hosted the 1991 OIC summit.
At the start of his final speech as OIC chairman, Abdullah apologised for being unable to be in Dakar, saying that he had some fundamental tasks to perform following Malaysia’s recent general election.
Abdullah, who was sworn in as prime minister on Monday, took the opportunity to say that this democratic process had been successfully carried out in an atmosphere of peace and stability.
“Malaysia is a plural society. But we’re proud of our Islamic heritage,” he said.
The Malaysian leader also said that the OIC must be relentless in its struggle for justice and equity in the existing geopolitical global environment, and reminded the organisation of the need to find solutions to end more than half a century of sufferings of the Palestinian people and establish an independent state of Palestine.
The OIC, he said, must play its part to address the common enemies of mankind like poverty, hunger and disease.
With so much on its plate, Abdullah said, it must continue to energise itself and pursue programmes and activities in a focused and result-oriented manner.
He expressed confidence that the organisation had the capacity and could make a difference for the well-being of the more than one billion Muslims in the world.
“But we need to work together. We must resolve to maintain unity among us. We must summon the political will to do so. We need to do all these because that is the best insurance for attaining peace, progress and prosperity for our peoples,” he added.
Abdullah also highlighted some of Malaysia’s contributions to the OIC, such as being active in promoting dialogue between the West and the Muslim world in efforts to bridge the gap of misunderstandings and mistrust.
In this connection, he said, Malaysia would host the Third International Conference on this subject on June 9-10.
“As a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country, Malaysia has sought to lead by example,” he said, adding that the government had introduced “Islam Hadhari” (civilisational Islam) as the approach to good governance and guide for economic and social advancement of society.
Another initiative taken by Malaysia was the establishment of the World Islamic Economic Forum to provide a platform for business interaction and networking between the private sector and government, especially among OIC countries.
Malaysia also initiated the Capacity Building Programme for OIC Countries in 2005 in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank, aimed at enhancing human resource development, institutional, organisational and management skills as well as the development of infrastructure.
In September 2007, Kuala Lumpur hosted the International Forum on the Mecca Declaration to provide impetus to the OIC’s 10-Year Programme of Action adopted at the Third Extraordinary Summit in Mecca in 2005.
Among the 29 Islamic leaders present in Dakar were Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, President Mahmoud Ahmadimejad of Iran and Palestistian President Mahmoud Abbas.