While urging the Muslim countries to effect more collective efforts to heal the Islam-West rift, Muslim leaders on May 28 called on Muslims to keep pace with the developed world through knowledge, innovation and unity.
“The loss of knowledge and innovation within the Muslim Ummah eventually led to the loss of sovereignty and empire,” Malaysia’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) held in Kuala Lumpur. “We must rediscover our ability and passion for knowledge and innovation…. We must reclaim this legacy.”
Abdullah affirmed that in a world that is more globalised and knowledge-based every day, Muslims have no other option but to be creative or left behind. “Over the years, the Muslim Ummah has deteriorated and declined. While the nations of the West basked in the glory of their global ascendancy, Muslim nations were largely consigned to what people term the ‘Third World’,” he said.
He noted that the 57 members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) accounted for only five per cent of the world’s gross domestic product in 2005 despite comprising 21 per cent of the global population.
Abdullah, the current chairman of the OIC, added that Muslim nations must take bold measures such as investing heavily in education and human development. “Clearly, much more effort and resources need to be put into education,” Abdullah told the forum.
Viewed as the Muslim world’s version of the World Economic Forum, the WIEF is held this year under the theme “Global Challenges: Innovative Partnerships”. The two-day event attracted about 900 participants, with representatives from the OIC countries, India, China, the US and Europe.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told the forum that firstly Muslims need to build up their unity as a basic step towards development. “We in the Islamic Ummah can achieve true solidarity among ourselves … and reclaim the eminence that (we) enjoyed in the Golden Age of Islam,” he urged.
Yudhoyono also called Muslim nations to work together to heal the widening chasm with the West. Muslims must change the Western view of Islam “from something negative or indifferent if not hostile to something positive and enthusiastic,” he said.
KNOWLEDGE, UNITY URGED IN MUSLIM FORUM
While urging the Muslim countries to effect more collective efforts to heal the Islam-West rift, Muslim leaders on May 28 called on Muslims to keep pace with the developed world through knowledge, innovation and unity.
