Gulf News
Tariq A. Al Maeena
The 13th conference of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) kicked off in the Turkish city of Istanbul last Thursday. More than 30 heads of state as well as key officials from 56 member countries of OIC attended the two-day summit, whose theme stressed ‘Unity and Solidarity for Justice and Peace’.
With the Muslim world facing great discord, King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia emphasised the need to fight sectarian strife and divisions along with all the other member states. In his speech, he said: “The present-day realities make it incumbent on us to stand united more than ever to fight the scourge of terrorism as well as to protect the younger generation from its fierce attack. Terrorism targets youths to get out of the path of their righteous religion and be driven by those who are creating turmoil using the name of our religion, which has nothing to do with them.”
Salman also pointed out that, “We have taken serious step in this direction through forming an Islamic military alliance, consisting of 39 countries, in order to coordinate all efforts through intellectual, media, financial and military initiatives based on the OIC’s principles and objectives”.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “I believe the greatest challenge we need to surmount is sectarianism. My religion is not that of Sunnis or Shiites. My religion is Islam.” Urging the heads of state gathered for the summit to jointly end sectarian divisions within the Muslim world and fight terror, Erdogan added: “We should be uniting. Out of the conflicts, the tyranny, only the Muslims suffer. This summit meeting could be a turning point for the whole Islamic world.”
In the war against terror, Erdogan singled out Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) militants operating in Syria and Iraq and Boko Haram extremists in Nigeria as two “terrorist organisations that are serving the same evil purpose”, adding that the OIC had accepted a Turkish proposal to set up a multinational security centre, based in Istanbul, for all Islamic states to fight militants. “We need to establish an organisation to further strengthen cooperation in the fight against terror,” he added.
There is no question that other than Islamophobia, two of the biggest issues facing the Muslim world are terrorism and sectarianism. While terrorism has been on the front-page headlines, I am glad to see that the issue of sectarianism has also been tabled as a threat to the Islamic world. On terrorists, I have wondered how these bands of misfits have used Islam, a religion of peace, to spread their brand of terror among people of other faiths or beliefs. Muslims must collectively and actively fight these wretched terrorists.
Inciting hatred and suspicion of other beliefs has been running apace with terrorism. From different corners of the Muslim world have sprung a new breed of clerics, each promoting his own interpretation of our religion and distorting it to suit his tribal traditions. A lot of these sermons are non-accepting of anyone not conforming to such extreme views.
At the risk of being branded an apostate or a heretic by some crazy clerics, I have to say this loud and clear: Enough is enough! Quit promoting your distorted interpretations of Islam. Stop invoking the name of Islam in the execution of your evil or barbaric agendas.
I strongly believe in inter-faith harmony and the attack on or destruction of symbols of one’s faith, be it a mosque, church, synagogue or temple, is a despicable act. I was not put on this earth to pass judgement on the beliefs of others. I am only accountable for my own deeds.
Islam has not taught us to react violently to people of other faiths, nor does it condone the killing of innocents or the destruction of property. Such actions are indulged in by individuals and groups whose only aim is to further their sinister agendas. And these actions can come from any faith. It doesn’t only have to be from Muslims. We have seen and heard enough examples of burning of holy texts and attacking places of worship. Such wicked people exist everywhere and pose a threat to peace and harmony among all faiths and beliefs. They use the blanket of religious authority together with the bullet and the bomb to promote their heinous message.
Tariq A. Al Maeena is a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@talmaeena
