Misinterpretation of Islam causes violence: Mahathir
Sri Wahyuni and A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta/Jakarta
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that the misinterpretation of basic Islamic teachings has prompted some Muslims to commit violent acts.
"They wrongly interpreted the teachings. I called on them to go back to the basic teachings of Islam," Mahathir said in a special interview with private television station TV7 in Yogyakarta on Wednesday.
He said people had interpreted and misinterpreted Islam for hundreds years, resulting in many different perspectives.
The Malaysian leader suggested that Muslims become fundamentalists in order to find the true Islam that loves humanity.
"I correct that I am against fundamentalism. I am a fundamentalist," Mahathir claimed. "I follow the basic teachings of Islam and they are all good."
Mahathir was responding to a question by The Jakarta Post's editor at large Sabam Siagian, who joined the special interview. Other interviewers were the Post's former chief editor Susanto Pudjomartono and TV7 director August Parengkuan,
Muslim scholars had earlier said that misinterpretation of jihad (holy war) had contributed to an increase in violence.
The Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the United States two years ago and the Bali bombings last October have led to a worldwide war against terrorism, which some say has tarnished the image of Islam.
Malaysia, which like Indonesia is home to a huge Muslim population, upholds a moderate branch of Islam and has shown a determination to fight terrorism.
Malaysia has arrested a number of Muslim hardliners under its Internal Security Act while Indonesia has brought to justice those involved in a series of bomb attacks in the country.
Earlier in his remarks after accepting an award from the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organizations (AFEO), Mahathir warned of the dangers of economic terrorism.
"Economic terrorism could instill as much fear... and do as much damage to life and property as bombs and guns," he told some 500 participants of the two-day meeting held at Yogyakarta Sheraton Mustika Resort and Spa.
He said such a terrorism caused damage or deaths, directly and indirectly, forcing nations into bankruptcy and submitting them to foreign direction.
Businesses were bankrupted or forced to sell out, usually to marauding foreign companies while banks and industries collapsed, he said.
"Simply because these speculative and manipulating rogues and their own media do not describe their acts as terrorism does not mean that they are not acts of terrorism... acts that cause fear and terror among their victims," he said.
In the interview with TV7, he further explained that economic terrorism was linked to currency trading at the expense of the poor.
Mahathir was apparently referring to the U.S. global financier George Soros, who he blamed for contributing to the financial crisis in Asia in 1997.