PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia , October 16 (IslamOnline.net) - Urging Muslims worldwide to pause and think of what became of their great Umma and capitalize on their "political, economic and financial clout" to counter growing anti-Islam campaigns, Malaysian Premier Mahathir Mohamad asserted Thursday, October 16, that Islam will eventually prevail.

Addressing the opening session of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) summit, Mahathir, who was elected new chairman of the pan-Muslim bloc, recalled that "early Muslims were as oppressed as we are presently but after their sincere and determined efforts to help themselves in accordance with the teachings of Islam, Allah had helped them defeat their enemies and to create a great and powerful Islamic civilization."

Elaborating on the huge potentials of today’s Muslims, Mahathir said: "We are now 1.3 billion strong. We have the biggest oil reserves in the world. We have great wealth. We are not ignorant. We control 50 out of 180 countries in the world. Our votes can make or break international organizations."

Ye, he lamented, Muslims "seem more helpless than the small number of Jahilliah converts who accepted the Prophet (peace be upon him) as their leader.

"Why? Is it because of Allah’s will or is it because we have interpreted our religion wrongly, or failed to abide by the correct teachings of our religion, or done the wrong things?" asked Mahathir.

He complained that that the worst of things are now happening to the Muslims and that Islamic countries stand unable to react.

"Today we, the whole Muslim ummah are treated with contempt and dishonor. Our religion is denigrated. Our holy places desecrated. Our countries are occupied. Our people starved and killed," said the new OIC chairman.

"Today if they want to raid our country, kill our people, destroy our villages and towns, there is nothing substantial that we cannot do," he said.

Offering solutions to end the plagues affecting the Islamic world, Mahathir asserted that Islamic countries must close ranks and have a common stand if not on all issues, at least on some major ones, such as on Palestine.

"It is time that we pause to think. But will this be wasting time? For well over half a century, we have fought over Palestine. What have we achieved? Nothing. We are worst off than before. If we had paused to think then we could have devised a plan, a strategy that can win us final victory," he stressed.

"Allah has not raised us, the leaders, above the others so we may enjoy power for ourselves only. The power we wield is for our people, for the ummah, for Islam. We must have the will to make use of this power judiciously, prudently, concertedly. Incha Allah we will triumph in the end.

"The whole world, the whole Muslim ummah is placing their hopes in this conference of the leaders of Islamic nations. They expect us not just to vent our frustrations and anger, through words and gestures; not just to pray for Allah’s blessings.

"They expect us to do something, to act," said the Malaysian premier who is resigning from his post after 22 years of office at the end of this month.

"We know he (Prophet Muhammad) and his early followers were oppressed by the Quraish. Did he launch retaliatory strikes? No. He was prepared to make strategic retreats," said Mahathir who insisted that Muslims must use strategy and must plan before being able to strike back at the enemies of Islam.

He underlined that Muslims must capitalize on their unlimited economic and political potentials to stand up to present challenges facing the nation.

"I have already mentioned our numbers and our oil wealth. In today’s world we wield a lot of political, economic and financial clout, enough to make up for our weakness in military term," said the new OIC chairman.

"We must build up our strength in every field, not just in armed might. Our countries must be stable and well administered, must be economically and financially strong, industrially competent and technologically advanced.

"This will take time, but it can be done and it will be time well spent. We are enjoined by our religion to be patient, Innallahamaasabirin. Obviously there is virtue in being patient," he maintained.

"The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million. But today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them," said Mahathir.

He asserted that "I.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews…We are up against a people who think. They survived 2000 years of pogroms not by hitting back, but by thinking.

"Of late because of their power and their apparent success they have become arrogant," said the Malaysian premier, adding that "arrogant people like angry people will make mistakes will forget to think.