Albar Speaking to IOL

DOHA, June 28, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) - Malaysia, the current chair of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), is a staunch supporter of reforming the pan-Muslim body.

It believes that the OIC urgently needs dramatic changes, including a new charter, name and decision-making mechanism, to face the daunting challenges ahead.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar maintains that at the age of globalization and economic blocs, the OIC can not remain a political umbrella and needs to activate economic cooperation and integration among member states.

OIC started a ministerial meeting in the Yemeni capital Tuesday, June 28, dedicated to discussing reforms and other issues related to the Muslim world.

Following is a transcript of an interview IslamOnline.net had with the top diplomat on the sidelines of the two-day summit of the G77 and China, hosted by Doha on June 18-19.

The real problem with the OIC is that we present only an organization of conference countries. We are not an organization as such. We are a loose movement and we don’t have enough money, we don’t have the support in order to be like any other regional organizations or multilateral organizations. We are not able to meet the challenges of today, so we must have a research group within the OIC, we must  have a very a strong secretariat that would be able to improve the image of Islamic countries.

When the OIC was born it was a result of the burning of Al-Aqsa mosque. Since then we have expanded our activities into various areas, so the OIC definitely has to move with facts, has to be updated. We are moving into a world of globalization, we are moving into a world that is full of liberalization of market, of economy, and the OIC can’t remain just purely a political body. There are a lot of advantages by working together for our economic wellbeing and benefits. So I think in this direction, the OIC as a secretariat has to be revitalized, has to be restructured in order to meet the new challenges of the 21st century. And the OIC as an organization has to be updated, which means we have to look at our charter, not only the issue of Palestine, that is important, the issue of economic cooperation, the issue of globalization, the issue of relationship with other regional organizations, with other countries, what is the position of a Muslim minority in non-Muslim country, how do we project the image of Islam as being a religion of peace, so all these are new dictates and new demands that we work very closely interfacing with the world. The present world look at Islam and Muslim equal to terrorism, so we must change this mindset of the west, we must create a dialogue, we must say that it is not Islam that is wrong, the extremism has nothing to do with the religion, so I think we need to change the way we move. Like Malaysia, we talk about a new approach of Islam Hadhari, manhaj Hadhari, the process of creating a Muslim who believes in Iman and taqwa (piety) but at the same time who is progressing, who is modern, rely on knowledge, who is fair to the minority, who is fair to women, who wants to create progress, he seeks knowledge, this is what Hadhari is, civlizational approach of Islam, of this humanistic civilizational approach of Islam. So people understand that Islam that one time was the bastion of civilization can now come back to become one, not to be in conflict with others, but to be part of the mainstream of international relations and of international politics. At present we are much marginalized.

I think it is not only the name change, the name we want to do it because we think that in the name also there would be a change in the mindset but possible Muslim countries must make mohasaba within themselves. So in order for you to change you must look at yourself, if we look at ourselves critically , only then we will be able to change.

I think the charter needs to be updated in order for the OIC to be developed. The present charter is not satisfactory, there are quite number of elements that are not in the charter that make things unclear and very difficult for us to move. In order to change the organization of Islamic countries since set as a conference body. We want to see, not (an organization of ) conference countries, but of Islamic states, so people can set the terms, they can set the parameters of membership.

I think sometimes there should be new conditions. People who want to be members must be serious, they must contribute to the well-being of the OIC. It is better to have quality than just to have quantity.

This is what we are thinking. We asked other countries to look at it because we can not impose our view on  other countries.

It is not a theory, it is an approach to work the fulfillment of deen (Religion), it is not a new Madhab, it is not a new school, it is just an approach to improve and create a better image of Islam, that is modernistic and progressing and at the same time, is still strong on morality, on faith, on knowledge, on protection of women, giving justice, treating everybody equally. So it is in essence trying to bring about change of attitude among Muslims and at the same time for non-Muslims to look at Islam that this religion is not against development, not against modernity, not against progress, not against knowledge. So I think this what we are trying to do. And like in Malaysia, Islam Hadhari is seen as one of the programs in order to make people see Islam as a religion of enlightenment, a religion of peace, a religion of development, that is what we think we want to do.

Generally, they all agree to the reform, but the question is of the mode of reform that we have not discussed in great details but everyone says yes. There is an equal need for reform.

I think we have discussed this in Kuala Lumpur. We discussed the conclusion in Kuala Lumpur and again in Islamabad, and at the end we hope we discuss it at the foreign ministers’ in Sanaa.

Also read:

• Malaysia Urges More Muslim Say in Global Economy

• Economic Strength Gives OIC Greater Clout: Malaysia

• Malaysia Seeks More Vital OIC Economy

• Islam Hadhari at Center of OIC Revamp: Malaysia

• OIC Mulls Changing Name, Charter: Malaysia