http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/GF07Ae02.html
Jun 7, 2005
Islamic push for Malaysian moderation
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Despite its location on the margins of the Islamic world, Malaysia is
coming out well ahead of other Muslim countries on the pivotal question of how
to redeem the battered image of Islam and its followers.
Such a rise in significance over other Islamic centers of gravity, such as
Egypt, Saudi Arabia or Iran in the Middle East or Pakistan in South Asia, stems
from moves underway by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to give
itself a face-lift.
The OIC's interest in Malaysia to help push through the sweeping reforms it has
in mind was confirmed during a recently concluded meeting in Pakistan. During
that gathering, from May 28-29, the moderate ideals of Islam Hadhari being
advocated by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi were embraced as
the way forward.
The OIC wants Islam Hadhari, or civilizational Islam, to be a central pillar in
the new look it is seeking for itself, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid
Albar said recently.
Other changes in the cards, according to the minister, are a new name and
charter for this premier Islamic body that reflects the views of the world's
Muslims.
Calls for such reform originated during the last OIC summit hosted by Malaysia
in October 2003. That was the first gathering of the 57-member body since
September 11, 2001, which gave rise to a global image of Muslims as prone to
violence and supporting terrorism.
The recommendations made by Islamic experts during the recent meeting in
Pakistan are to be fine-tuned at a gathering of OIC foreign ministers in Yemen
in July. They will then be tabled at a special summit of Muslim leaders to be
held in Mecca toward the end of the year.
Malaysia's appeal for a beleaguered organization such as the OIC, often
criticized as being long on talk but short on concrete action, also stems from
other factors that make the nation stand out in the Islamic world. It is an
economic success story where modernity and multiculturalism have been given
room to flower rather than been crushed by religious extremists.
But a political minefield awaits the OIC in the journey ahead, given the ideas
that make up the core of Islam Hadhari the Malaysian premier is advocating.
They espouse an Islam that accepts differences, is comfortable with religious
pluralism, and is open to democratic rights.
Among the 10 principles that frame this vision are those that stress a "free
and independent people", a "just and trustworthy government" and "protection of
the rights of minority groups and women", wrote Mohamed Sharif Bashir of the
Islamic University of Malaysia on IslamOnline, an Internet magazine.
Such values, however, are woefully absent across much of the Muslim world.
These countries, in fact, are notorious for their human-rights violations, and
their leaders often dominate the rogues' gallery of dictators, autocrats and
oppressive monarchies.
Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov is the latest among such strongmen to
capture the headlines of the world's media. His brutal crackdown of protesters
in May mirrored a pattern of suppression common in other Islamic countries
where the victims were also Muslims. According to media reports, hundreds of
people were killed in that Central Asian republic when government troops fired
at the demonstrators.
Karimov's Uzbekistan has also been known for the widespread torture of Muslims
arrested on charges of Islamic "extremism" and "fundamentalism", New York-based
global rights body Human Rights Watch stated. The forms of torture have ranged
from beatings, burnings and asphyxiation to a detainee being immersed in
boiling water.
In late May, another human-rights champion, Amnesty International, lay bare the
extremism and abuse that prevails in Muslim countries such as Egypt, Iran,
Libya, Pakistan, the Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Syria.
"Human-rights abuses flourish most brutally in the absence of democracy, and
unfortunately, the record of Muslim countries in political freedom is pretty
dismal," Irfan Husain wrote in a commentary that appeared last week in the
Dubai-based Khaleej Times.
A United Nations report in April about the lack of political reform in the Arab
world was as caustic, arguing that the region could be shattered by violence
and social upheaval if democracy was further denied to the people.
"Throughout the [Arab] region, the concentration of power in the hands of the
executive, be it a monarchy, military dictatorship or a civilian president
elected without competition, has created a kind of political 'black hole' at
the center of Arab political life," stated the UN report, "Arab Human
Development Report 2004".
The OIC's quest to transform itself as an advocate of Islam Hadhari fits in
with the UN report's call for change. More importantly, it reveals a belated
commitment to give a due place to citizens in the Muslim world rather than
maintain the habit of placating their governments.
Such a move would make this pan-Muslim body sound more credible when it
articulates its mission to protect the interest of the ummah, or the people who
make up the global Islamic community.
How far the OIC gets on this path will be seen later this year when it finally
unveils its version of Islam Hadhari at the summit to be held in Islam's
birthplace. A watered-down version to satisfy the despots and the autocrats in
the Muslim world would relegate the OIC's reforms to mere cosmetic changes.
Were that to happen, the OIC will have a list of countries that help perpetuate
the image of the Muslim world as prone to terrorism, religious extremism and
tyranny. Malaysia, where 60% of the country's 25 million people are Muslim,
will not be among them.
(Inter Press Service
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