MAKKAH - OIC Secretary-General Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu urged Muslim leaders attending an extraordinary summit here to take quick action to solve the grave problems facing the nearly 1.5 billion people in their countries. "We can no longer neglect these problems or expect others to solve them for us," he said.
Ihsanoglu warned the leaders of Muslim countries that their disunity and weakness would only increase the ambition of others to rob them of their rights and resources. "The international system -- as it is -- was not created to give us justice and fairness on a plate of gold. Only our determination and work can give it to us. We must therefore work hard and persevere to earn it."
Ihsanoglu expressed his confidence that the Makkah summit, which was called by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, would serve as a watershed in the Ummah's march to glory and strength. The Muslim world has the resources to overcome the problems facing them. Our rich history, culture and the resources we have today give us every reason to believe that we can move the Muslim world to a brighter future," he added.
Ihsanoglu, who has been working hard to strengthen the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, told the summit that blaming others for Muslim problems was not a solution. "It is high time we address our national and regional problems with courage, sincerity and openness. This is what the Muslim masses expect from us," he stressed.
He urged OIC states to develop a culture of solidarity by mobilizing their political, economic and cultural resources. "We need solidarity in action whereby we unite our resources and energies through concrete action. This solidarity must be operational at the government and NGO levels so that it will have political clout as well as public support," he pointed out.
Unity is not uniformity. "We can achieve unity without neglecting the unique characteristics and circumstances of each Muslim nation," he said. The rich tapestry of the Muslim world is a shining example of unity in diversity and can be an example for other societies. He said the collective strength of the OIC would have its positive impact on its member countries, he explained.
He emphasized the need to counter the growing tide of Islamophobia in Western countries as a result of ignorance, hatred, bigotry and lack of understanding. "We have to tell the world why Islamophobia is an evil whose harm will not be confined to Muslims alone. Hatred of a certain group of people is in fact an open invitation to hate all those who are dissimilar to us," he said. He urged non-Muslim countries to ban the practices of Islamophobia and protect Muslims.
The OIC chief stressed the need for removing the root causes of terrorism and violence. "Muslim masses yearn for a scream of conscience that expresses their hopes and aspirations. As individuals look around but find no one offering relief, they quickly become vulnerable to the ideas of extremist elements and their illegitimate aims. We are, therefore, under obligation to fulfill the most pressing needs of our peoples," he said.
He called for concrete action to solve problems such as poverty, illiteracy, epidemics, corruption, and the lack of equal opportunity and equal distribution of wealth. "When these issues are not addressed properly by legitimate means, they are used as an excuse to push for extremist agendas," he said. The political developments in the Muslim world also feed such agendas and take ordinary people further away from the principles of moderation.
"One of the effective ways of establishing moderation is to change the conditions that feed the sense of helplessness, dispossession and marginalization. All of these lead to the growth and spread of extremist ideas. We can and must create a better environment in which such agendas will not emerge in the first place. To do this, we have to improve the conditions of political and economic life in Muslim countries," he told the leaders.
He urged the international community to force Israel to fully comply with the Middle East peace roadmap. "We also insist that Israel should abandon its policy over Al-Quds, which we consider the major concern of the entire Muslim world," he added. "The world is now aware that the main cause of tension and unrest in the Middle East and even the world lies in the tragedy in Palestine, especially in Jerusalem."
The OIC secretary-general underlined his efforts to strengthen the organization. "I have set standards for accountability and transparency and improved the financial position of the organization. I have ordered that decisions be streamlined so that they are applicable and translate words into deeds," he added.
He emphasized the role of OIC in promoting Islamic solidarity, boosting joint Islamic action, safeguarding the rights of the Muslim world, propagating Islamic principles and virtues and increasing cooperation in economic, scientific and technologic fields.
By P.K. Abdul Ghafour
© Arab News 2005
