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.