A meeting with Malaysian students late into the night capped
Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad's second of his four-day stay here, a function
which he had to miss when it was held earlier in the evening.
The Prime Minister had an audience with the Moroccan King, Mohammad VI in
Marrakesh, and this had kept him away from the meeting with the students.
Minister of Entrepreneur Development Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz and
Minister of Family and Women Development Datuk Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, were then
assigned to meet the students as replacement speakers.
But Dr Mahathir, who insisted on not disappointing the students, met them after
attending the dinner hosted by his Moroccan Abderrahmane Youssoufi, at the
latter's residence.
Datuk Seri Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, and other dignitaries, were also guests at
the dinner.
Happy though he was with the encounter with the students, Dr Mahathir's earlier
dialogue with Moroccan intellectuals, MPs and think tank was far more engaging.
After delivering his address titled 'enhancing the image of Islam,' the Prime
Minister was flooded with questions from the floor.
In his speech, Dr Mahathir argued that bravery alone would not necessarily
enhance the image of Islam.
In fact, lashing out blindly in anger would not help to glorify the Muslim
civilisation; it's not even Islamic, he remarked.
The Prime Minister's frank views triggered many questions, with the enquirers
agreeing generally with his perspectives on how Islam's image could be further
promoted.
Malaysia, they said, is the model Islamic nation that ought to be studied and
copied.
Academician Syed Khan Al Hassan, the first to offer his comments during the
ensuing dialogue, suggested that there should be more student exchanges between
the two countries.
The next speaker wanted to know whether Dr Mahathir's ideas on promoting the
interest of the ummah could be implemented, suggesting that it would be
difficult if not impossible to turn ideas into action.
"How could the Islamic world take your words and ideas and turn them into
action?" the Prime Minister was asked.
Dr Mahathir's respond was short and straight to the point. "It all depends
whether the Muslim world has the will to make decisions. Until today, we've not
been able to collectively agree to implement an earlier suggestion of the
Islamic Dinar even though the mechanisms have been put in place. If this cannot
be done on a large scale, perhaps we can do it on bilateral terms
initially."
A Moroccan MP, in a supplementary question, asked whether Dr Mahathir was
implied that the Islamic world emulate the European Union which introduced the
euro.
The Prime Minister said this need not be so but if Islamic countries were to
return to the fundamentals of the religion such as brotherhood of the ummah,
"then we can achieve beyond form and go into substance."
But he feared that the disunity in the Islamic world has not helped put an end
to the misery of the Palestinians. The Islamic world too must look at its
problems realistically as only after this could the problems be overcome.
Dr Mahathir said: "The Malaysian stand on the Palestinian issue has always
been consistent. Firstly, it's wrong to take someone else's land and create
Israel. Israel is a reality today, and backed by powerful nations. At this
point in time, we can't take on powerful people and countries. That, too, is a
reality.
"But the struggle of the Palestinian people has had some positive response
lately. There are nations in Europe which condemned the Palestinians in the
past but are now changing their stand.
"Surely, we should study this changing position realistically vis-a-vis
the Palestinian struggle. Malaysia is willing to campaign for the Palestinian
cause internationally but the Islamic world must act together."
"Otherwise, it's not worthwhile," he told the audience as more hands
were raised to seek elaborations and ask new questions.
An enquirer from the front row of the main hall in the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Cooperation, describing the speech and answers as courageous, asked
if Dr Mahathir could shed some light on the difference between the suicide
bombers and those who strive and strike for independence.
"We cannot condemn people who are desperate," the Prime Minister
replied, arguing that the Palestinians are resorting to such acts because no
one was helping them.
As in previous discourses on the subject, Dr Mahathir regarded the Palestinian
fighters as freedom fighters even though the acts may be regarded as terror
attacks as well.
"We can't say they are not terror attacks. They are. But if the world are
to seek an end to this, then the Israelis must withdraw and negotiate. You can't
negotiate with guns pointed at you," he said.
When asked whether the Islamic world with its combined population of 1.3
billion could make a difference for itself, Dr Mahathir argued that the number
may be big but they are fragmented.
"For instance, there are more Muslims than Jews in the United States, but
the former are disunited and do not speak with one voice," he said.
But perhaps the last question was the most intriguing (to some in the audience
at least).
The enquirer began by stating his admiration for the Prime Minister whom he
followed in an interview over the Al Jazeera television network.
He asked how would the Prime Minister rationalise between faith and science,
between religion and modern management techniques, and whether his views are
subscribed by everyone else in Malaysia.
Articulating his response, Dr Mahathir said that not everyone in Malaysia share
his views as there are sections of the people who oppose progress for reasons
best known to them.
The Islamic world was on the ascendancy for many years, he said, but declined
when it did not pursue more worldly knowledge other than religion.
"In the early years, Islamic scholars gave the world the benefits of
science and mathematics, medicine and the arts," he said. "But they
stopped these pursuits and began pursuing Islamic knowledge only even though
there is nothing in the Quran to suggest that they cannot continue to study the
sciences."
"We pray for our well-being in the world and in the hereafter. And yet
many of us still neglect the pursuits to live well and meaningfully in the
world today, preferring instead to concentrate for our life in the hereafter.
"How could we promote and Islam if we don't have the knowledge and skills
to make our own clothes; when we don't have the wealth to give alms as demanded
by the religion; when we are not in the position and have no technical
knowledge to even make our own weapons?
"Therefore, we have to study the sciences as even the religious people
depend on others for their needs. Since we neglected the sciences, we have
regressed. And the neglect of modern management skills have led the ummah to
continue to depend on others for their well-being, and continuing this would
only be to the ummah's detriment."