OIC stresses need for coordinated propagation
OIC stresses need for coordinated propagation
JAKARTA (JP): Religious leaders from 22 member nations of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) concluded their two-day meeting here yesterday, agreeing to coordinate their Islamic da'wah, or propagation, efforts.
Over 100 Moslem experts deliberated at length about the various difficulties they face in spreading Islam and about strategies for improving the welfare of its followers.
They named, among other obstacles, the lack of exchange of expertise among themselves, global political and economical imbalance as well as widespread misperceptions of Islam.
The meeting also listened to a presentation by Indonesian Minister of Population Haryono Suyono. In his speech, Haryono discussed the results of the world conference on population in Cairo last September, which received wide criticism from many religious leaders at the time.
The meeting was closed by Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher and the participants are scheduled to pay a visit to the IPTN aircraft company in Bandung today.
In addition to their task of finalizing a draft on da'wah strategies for the next five years, yesterday's discussion also tackled a number of other related issues, including the Serbian persecution of Bosnian Moslems and Russia's military intervention in predominantly-Moslem Chechnya.
On the Cairo conference, which many religious groups claimed endorsed homosexuality, Dr. Kamil Sharif of the International Islamic Council for Da'wah and Relief said the Cairo agenda was unwelcome in many societies.
"(There was some) arm twisting (by the United Nations) of those governments that hesitated (in accepting its resolutions)," Sharif said, suggesting that Moslem societies join forces to handle such coercion.
Minister Haryono rebutted the charge, citing Indonesia's successful campaign to balance religious values with concerns over a population explosion.
He also called on the Moslem leaders to move away from discussion and actively address population issues.
The meeting yesterday also discussed the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, with most of the participants displaying disagreement with the process.
Political issues
"We can't overlook political issues.. and Moslems throughout the world should make clear that we cannot accept solutions," Kamal Sharif said.
He also said that the Moslem countries should clearly reject Israel's stance on Jerusalem.
The meeting agreed on the need to build better relations among da'wah institutions and also between institutions and individual governments.
It also agreed in principle on a draft strategy prepared by the OIC expert committee on the coordination of Islamic action, led by Dr. Abdullah Omar Nashef of Saudi Arabia.
The draft proposes that Moslem leaders should, for instance, urge Islamic governments to support and fund official da'wah bodies.
The meeting agreed to begin creating an international Moslem Waqaf (endowment) body for Islamic propagation, to establish investment projects in favor of the body and to utilize the potential and expertise of the Islamic development bank in supporting Islamic causes.
The last speaker in the meeting, Dr. Amien Rais of Indonesia, identified several obstacles Islamic propagators face in Indonesia, among them a secularization process and other religious proselytization targeting Moslem communities.
"The obstacles are serious problems," he said. "Secularism is brought in by Western-educated Moslem children who, in consequence, think in Western paradigms which see Islam as having limited moral values."
The most serious challenge, however, lies with religions which, he felt, caused the number of Moslems in the last two decades to decrease by 0.36 percent, he said.
Almost 90 percent of the Indonesian population of 194 million is Moslem. (swe)