Muslim countries must coexist peacefully with each other, says Saifuddin

KUALA LUMPUR: Muslim countries must seek to coexist peacefully with each other, rather than engage in conflict with their Muslim brothers, says Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.

The Foreign Minister took a swipe at Muslim countries who go to war with other Muslim nations, on behalf of superpower countries.

“Among the ummah, we have countries who are involved in shadow wars on behalf of superpowers, or creating proxy wars on behalf of others.

“We have countries among the Muslim ummah who bully smaller countries, who unilaterally impose sanctions on other countries, or attack or bomb Muslim countries.

“When Malaysia wanted to organise the KL Summit, some people accused us of dividing the Muslim ummah, but it is 'okay' to bomb or impose sanctions on other countries,” he said in a special session at the Kuala Lumpur Summit on Friday (Dec 20).

He added that there has been a growing trend of supremacist and racial ideologies the world over.

“We are faced with issues like racism, politics of race, and the rise of supremacist ideologies - be it from the West or the East.

“Muslims are divided and polarised due to different mazhab (sects), and we also have a polarisation between Muslims and non-Muslims,” he said.

He added that racism and politics of race must end, and that countries should move to the centre, rather than moving further right, of the political spectrum.

Governments, he added, must not only work with other governments on this end, but also with civil society organisations, international bodies and corporate sectors.