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Anwar Ibrahim on Terrorist Attacks
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 (IslamOnline) - Writing from his tiny cell in the Sungai Boloh Prison on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim condemned the September 11th terrorist attacks and said that never in Islam's history have the actions of so few of its followers caused the religion and its community of believers to be such an abomination in the eyes of others.
Ibrahim's article, entitled "Who Hijacked Islam" will be published in the October 15th issue of
Time Asia magazine.
He wrote that millions of Muslims in Europe and America have become the objects of hatred and are now profiled as terrorists as a result of the terror attacks. "The nascent democratic movements in Muslim countries will regress for a few decades as ruling autocrats use their participation in the global war against terrorism to terrorize their critics and dissenters," he wrote.
Forcefully condemning the terrorist attacks, Ibrahim writes: "The attacks must be condemned, and the condemnation must be without reservation. The foremost religious authorities are outraged and have issued statements denouncing the monstrous murders. All efforts to punish the perpetrators must be supported."
He said that he was perturbed by the prevailing confusion among some Muslims who responded to the attack with a misplaced diatribe against the U.S.
"In Malaysia, the government-controlled media have been deployed to stir up anti-American sentiments, while members of the political elite use a different language for international diplomacy."
"Certainly there are legitimate grievances against the U.S. and good reason for despondency over the fate of the Palestinians, who now face an even more arrogant Israel. But this is not the time for sermonizing or moralizing over U.S. foreign policy. Had we Malaysians been the victims of such a tragedy, we would find such hectoring tasteless and repulsive."
He wonders how in the 21st century, the Muslim world could have produced an Osama bin Laden. He said in the Golden Age of Islam, Muslim men of wealth created pious foundations supporting universities, and princes competed with one another to patronize scientists, philosophers and men of letters. "But bin Laden uses his personal fortune to sponsor terror and murder, not learning or creativity, and to wreak destruction rather than promote creation," Ibrahim wrote.
"For more than 100 years, the Muslim world has had to grapple with the problem of modernity. Of greatest urgency is the effort to inculcate an intellectual and political orientation that promotes democracy and openness.
"Intellectuals and politicians must have the courage to condemn fanaticism in all its forms. But they must, in the same breath, equally condemn the tyrants and oppressive regimes that dash every hope of peaceful change."
According to Anwar Ibrahim's lawyer, the Time essay will be part of a lawsuit that Anwar plans to file this week against the Malaysian government for alleged defamation resulting from state-owned TV broadcast that characterized him as an Islamic extremist and a threat to national security.
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