The Real Islam Is Not About Extremist Politics
International Herald Tribune
February 8, 2002
Mahathir bin Mohamad 

Islam is a religion of peace and moderation. If it does not appear to be so today, this is not due to the teachings of Islam but to interpretations made by those who are apparently learned in Islam to suit their patrons or their own vested interest.

Islam differs from Judaism and Christianity, because it has no system of priests. Muslims believe that Hebrew and Christian priests changed the original religions. They do not want priests to change Islam.

But over the centuries those learned in Islam, the ulama, gained such authority over the Muslim laity that many of them tended to use their considerable influence to gain power for themselves. They became like the priests of other religions.

Early ulama figures were knowledgeable in many disciplines besides theology. Today, political ulamas are knowledgeable only in those parts of the teachings of Islam which seemingly support their political views. Many misinterpret and distort Islam to legitimize their political creed. A favorite view is that only ulamas may rule a country, democracy notwithstanding.

These political ulamas reject knowledge that is not specifically religious for fear that people with such knowledge might challenge their authority. The early Muslims were great scholars excelling in mathematics and the sciences, but today's Muslims are generally backward in most fields of learning. They are also not knowledgeable in Islam.

Every time an attempt is made to bring Muslim nations to the development levels of non-Muslim countries, Muslim groups emerge demanding a "return to Islam." These groups are usually violent and often declare "holy wars" against Muslim governments that are trying to develop their countries. Because Muslim countries are backward, instead of helping themselves as enjoined by the Koran, they tend to depend solely on divine help, led by the deviant ulamas.

In Malaysia, the government I lead is labeled secular and un-Islamic by the opposition Pan Malaysia Islamic Party. The party is headed by people who claim that they are ulamas. Hatred for the so-called secular government is fostered in their kindergartens and schools. Fighting against this hate campaign absorbs much of the government's time, hindering development.

Yet Malaysia is a reasonably developed modern nation not in spite of Islam but because of Islam, because it tries to adhere to Islam's fundamentals. Islam is not just a religion. It is a way of life. It should bring about peace, stability and success. It is a way of life which does not neglect spiritual values and can bring greatness to the followers of Islam, as it once did.

Malaysia is an Islamic country. The state religion is Islam. Non-Muslims are free to practice their religions, because this is permitted by Islam. But deviant Muslims still insist that Malaysia is secular and the government must be overthrown, preferably by violence.

Still, Malay Muslims have largely refused to deviate from the fundamentals of Islam or give power to self-appointed ulamas who are incompetent in administration and development.

The problem faced by Muslim countries is the result of deviation from Islamic fundamentals. People are fond of equating fundamentalists with fanatical orthodoxy, but the fundamentals of Islam are simple and good.

Islam abhors wars of aggression and the killing of innocent people. Defensive wars are permitted, but should the enemy sue for peace, Muslims must respond positively.

Islam has promoted the acquisition of knowledge and skills. But the ulamas later interpreted learning to mean religion only. Bereft of nonreligious knowledge, the great Islamic civilization declined and faded away.

If Muslims return to the fundamentals of Islam, they could concentrate on the development of their nations. They would be at peace with each other and with non-Muslim nations. Muslim nations would then be well administered by trained and skillful people. They would be able to compete within the global community. As a result, they would have a vested interest in international stability and peace, and would want to maintain it.

If today Islam is perceived to be a religion of backward, violent and irrational people, it is not because of Islam itself as a faith and way of life. It is because Muslims have deviated from the fundamentals of Islam and abused its teachings to justify their personal greed and ambitions.

Islam, fundamental Islam, does not just have a role in the modern Islamic state. In this grossly materialistic age, Islam can instill the spiritual values which distinguish man from the lower creatures.

This comment by the prime minister of Malaysia was adapted by the International Herald Tribune from an address on Sunday at the World Economic Forum meeting in New York.

[Not to be reproduced without the permission of the author.]

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