Mahathir Mohamad Urges Avoiding Sectarian Strife
In a speech Monday night at a forum in Shah Alam, Mahathir reminded his audience of the Islamic belief that a person becomes a Muslim as soon as he testifies that God is one and Muhammad (PBUH) was his human messenger. Both Sunnis and Shias make the same two testimonies, he pointed out.
He noted that Malays had enjoyed freedom from sectarian strife for a long time because they were nearly all Sunnis subscribing to the Shafie school of jurisprudence. But he said the situation in the country had changed somewhat in recent years with the presence of expatriates from Shia-majority countries.
He acknowledged that there was still peace among Muslims in the country, at least compared to the situation in parts of the Middle East, and he urged for the perpetuation of that peace through tolerance of different views.
Referring to Shias, he said, “We have no right to say they are not Muslims just because they don’t look like us or don’t dress like us.”
Speaking of the warring between Shias and Sunnis in other parts of the Muslim world, he said they were practically fulfilling the objectives of the Jews and Americans.
“The Jews and the Americans are the ones who are laughing,” he said. “The Muslims are doing their work for them. This is what happens when we emphasize our differences instead of our similarities.”
Source: Free Malaysia Today
