Muslim leaders pledge to preach peace, prosperity

Muslim leaders pledge to preach peace, prosperity

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Muslim leaders from around the globe have vowed to preach peace
and prosperity and actively participate in creating a more humane
society.

"We pledge to be courageous defenders of peaceful teachings
and interpretation of Islam and to be exemplary peacemakers in
our personal, family and social conduct of our lives," the
leaders said in a statement issued on Saturday.

Some 150 Muslim leaders and experts gathered in Jakarta on
Friday and Saturday to attend an international summit called
Islam and a Future World of Peace.

According to host Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, the summit is
the largest non-governmental meeting ever to be held that
involved representatives of 50 countries of various backgrounds,
including traditional leaders and scholars. It was organized to
repair the image of Islam, which has been severely tarnished by
the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Muslims leaders attending the summit included Shakyh Ahmad
Tigani Ben Omar of the U.S.-based Universal Islamic Center,
Mohamad Manzoor Alam of the India-based Institute of Objective
Studies, Nagasura Madale of Mindanao State University and Rahmah
Binti Bujang of the Malaysia-based Academy of Malay Studies.

Taj Hamad, a representative of the United Nations, stressed
the need for Muslim leaders to contribute to world peace and
justice.

"The message of true Islam from the prophet and from the
Koran ... must be shared with those who know nothing of Islam and
perhaps only now are interested for the first time," said Taj
Hamad, one of the summit's planning committee members.

"Islam can and should be a light in the world of this new
century and millennium. It is up to the Muslim leaders to guide
the faithful in the fulfillment of this goal," he added.

Apart from calling for more peace in the world, the Muslim
leaders also urged the Western world to stop blaming Islam for
the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in which more
than 3,000 innocent people were killed.

Muntaz Ahmad of Hampton University said that the Sept. 11
incident in the United States had nothing to do with but happened
because of a criminal mind.

Any dialog on terrorism must not only discuss Muslims as such
terrorist attacks can also be committed by members of other
communities, Muntaz said.

He cited violence in Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland, which has
killed tens of thousands of people, as examples that acts of
terrorism could be committed by other communities.

"So, should it (violence in Sri Lanka) be blamed on Buddhism,
Hinduism? ... or should Catholicism or Protestantism be
responsible for terrorism in Northern Ireland? The answer is no."

According to the Muslim leaders, Islam has nothing to do with
terrorism as the religion was born out of compassion, and its
teachings aim to nurture peace and prosperity and to create a
more humane society.

Gus Dur, who is a former chairman of Indonesia's largest
Islamic organization, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), stressed that
terrorism perpetrated by different people from different
religions was a form of response to certain situations.

"And for Muslims, it is a kind of response to challenges, and
one of the most important challenges is modernization," Gus Dur
said.

The challenge can only be answered through education in the
basic principles of Islam that were taught by Prophet Muhammad.

Meanwhile, Alwi Shihab of Indonesia's Bina Bangsa Foundation
said that meetings of Muslim leaders with leaders of other
religions were of paramount importance to reduce
misunderstandings.

"This meeting (the Jakarta summit) should be followed by other
meetings," said Alwi.

Akbar Muhammad of the U.S.-based Nation of Islam said that
lack of knowledge about Islam in the Western world had been
exacerbated by unbalanced reports by Western media that tended to
sensationalize any incidents involving Muslims.

Muhammad further said that a more just global system was the
most important factor to creating a more peaceful world. He
stressed that all people, including Muslims, wanted to live in
peace.

"Muslims do want peace because we want to raise our families
in a better situation," Muhammad told the Post.