By IINA,
Kuala Lumpur : Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said failure of Muslims to appreciate the teachings contained in the Holy Quran, which requires them to acquire knowledge in the various fields, has caused the Muslims to be backward compared to the other races. The prime minister said the failure to appreciate the teachings of the holy book had also resulted in the Muslim nations to be shackled by poverty and problems of illiteracy.
“Muslims must follow the footsteps of those early Muslim intellectuals who had mastered various fields of studies such as medicines, astronomy, mathematics and various other disciplines during the glorious Islamic civilization,” he said in his speech at the ‘Tadarrus Al-Quran’ organised by the Johor Umno Liaison Body at the official residence of the Johor Menteri Besar, Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman, on Sunday.
Also present at the function were International Trade and Industry Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Education Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein and Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar. Other leaders present were Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad and Umno Secretary General Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor. After the ‘Tadarrus Al-Quran’, Abdullah and the Johor Umno leaders attended an Iftar Party with Umno members.