ID :
149150
Mon, 11/08/2010 - 09:51
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/149150
The shortlink copeid
PROPER TEACHINGS, MODERATION IN ISLAM FUNDAMENTAL IN CURBING EXTREMISM
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak believes
that proper teachings and being moderate are fundamental to Islam as
part of how Malaysia is dealing with possible extremists in the society.
He said the government's ability to uplift the social economic status by
reducing a high poverty rate of 50 per cent in the 1960's to 3.6 per cent now,
apart from development and changes also contributed to the factor of success in
curbing extremism.
"So you see the fruits of development actually lifting the state of social
economic status of the people. First of all, if you look at the genesis of Islam
in how it came to our part of the world, it was brought by Muslim traders from
the Middle East and it was a peaceful conversion.
"So Islam has never really been associated with extremism and violence from day
one," he said when interviewed by Fareed Zakaria in his GPS programme aired by
CNN, here Sunday night.
Najib said, however, once in a while extremists did exist whether they were in
Malaysia or from a neighbouring country.
"We have to deal with it...and fortunately our security agencies, they are very,
very good in taking pre-emptive actions using the Internal Security Act which
detained people without trial.
"But it is not a sort of the nearest kind of punishment. We detain you, we try
to re-educate you and if you accept that Islam is moderate and you shouldn't
resort to violence and extremism, then you will be released back to the
society," he said in the five-minute interview.
On whether Malaysia supports the United States' military involvement in some parts of the world to curb extremism, Najib said 'initially it was a no' and he was quite frank about it.
"You cannot bomb extremism into submission. It is about the mixture of the hard and soft power of the United States which eventually won them more support in the Muslim world (rather) than using the military approach," he said.
On the proposal for the controversial 'Ground Zero Mosque' in New York, Najib said it somehow had weakened America's image in the Muslim world because it was a sense of the so-called phenomena of 'Islamophobia'.
"It is a real concern to the Muslim world and I think Muslims sense that they are not so welcomed...and feel there is a change in the attitude of Americans towards Muslims, and it is important for us to get back on track," he added.
that proper teachings and being moderate are fundamental to Islam as
part of how Malaysia is dealing with possible extremists in the society.
He said the government's ability to uplift the social economic status by
reducing a high poverty rate of 50 per cent in the 1960's to 3.6 per cent now,
apart from development and changes also contributed to the factor of success in
curbing extremism.
"So you see the fruits of development actually lifting the state of social
economic status of the people. First of all, if you look at the genesis of Islam
in how it came to our part of the world, it was brought by Muslim traders from
the Middle East and it was a peaceful conversion.
"So Islam has never really been associated with extremism and violence from day
one," he said when interviewed by Fareed Zakaria in his GPS programme aired by
CNN, here Sunday night.
Najib said, however, once in a while extremists did exist whether they were in
Malaysia or from a neighbouring country.
"We have to deal with it...and fortunately our security agencies, they are very,
very good in taking pre-emptive actions using the Internal Security Act which
detained people without trial.
"But it is not a sort of the nearest kind of punishment. We detain you, we try
to re-educate you and if you accept that Islam is moderate and you shouldn't
resort to violence and extremism, then you will be released back to the
society," he said in the five-minute interview.
On whether Malaysia supports the United States' military involvement in some parts of the world to curb extremism, Najib said 'initially it was a no' and he was quite frank about it.
"You cannot bomb extremism into submission. It is about the mixture of the hard and soft power of the United States which eventually won them more support in the Muslim world (rather) than using the military approach," he said.
On the proposal for the controversial 'Ground Zero Mosque' in New York, Najib said it somehow had weakened America's image in the Muslim world because it was a sense of the so-called phenomena of 'Islamophobia'.
"It is a real concern to the Muslim world and I think Muslims sense that they are not so welcomed...and feel there is a change in the attitude of Americans towards Muslims, and it is important for us to get back on track," he added.
