Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is in New York City this week meeting with potential investors in his endeavor to seek further outside support for his efforts to raise his nation's standard of living, followed by a trip to Washington for the diplomatic round of meetings. Earlier this week, Najib delivered remarks in Oxford which built on his speech last year to the Council on Foreign Relations, expressing a further push for moderation in the Muslim world and specifically referencing his religious opposition to acts of terrorism:
When four young men headed south from Yorkshire one morning in July, six years ago, maybe they thought the home-made bombs they carried in their backpacks made them â??real Muslimsâ?. Maybe they thought that by blowing themselves up, they were acting in accordance with the will of Allah, that they were following the teachings of the Quran. How wrong they were.I would like to emphatically state that those who strap explosives on their bodies and blow themselves up are not martyrs. They do not represent Islam. Unknowingly, they are misguided into committing a grievous sin. So too, all those who preach hate and stoke the fire of intolerance in leading to this most blasphemous act, they too are as guilty as the perpetrators. Our heart goes out to their victims who are innocent, defenceless civilians going about their daily life. Islam never condones such a vile act. Neither is it part of the teachings of Islam.
...
A world free from terrorism is possible. It is not beyond our reach. It needs men and women of goodwill among the faithful of all creeds; it requires a vanguard of the moderates, it demands us to stop being a silent majority and to start reflecting the courage of our conviction. We must address the underlying causes of global violence. Merely going after specific individuals, dismantling their organisations, disrupting their finances and discrediting their ideologies is far from enough. We must be able to differentiate between the symptoms and the root causes. Only then, can we achieve a lasting solution.
It's encouraging to see a Muslim ally engage this issue with such directness and at such a prominent venue. Of course, these words are unlikely to be heeded by those in the Arab world - but it's unquestionably a step in the right direction. More of this, please.
