Malaysia breaches OIC accord
The government’s anti-Syiah stance goes against several points of a resolution it signed in 2007
K. Pragalath, FMT
Malaysia has breached an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) agreement that binds member states to a resolution promoting Muslim unity.
In declaring Syiah Islam as a security threat and its followers as deviants from the Islamic faith, the Malaysian government is in violation of the OIC’s “Resolution No. 28/34-POL on Strengthening Islamic Unity”, signed on May 17, 2007 in Islamabad.
The resolution, often referred to as the Islamabad Declaration, affirmed the following statement, made at the Amman International Islamic Conference in 2004:
“Whosoever is an adherent to one of the four Sunni schools (Mathahib) of Islamic jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafie and Hanbali), the two Shi’i schools of Islamic jurisprudence (Jafari and Zaydi), the Ibadi school of Islamic jurisprudence anf the Thahiri school of Islamic jurisprudence is a Muslim and declaring that person an apostate is impossible and impermissible and verily his (or her) blood, honour and property are inviolable.”
It also affirmed “the views of the Forum of Muslim Scholars and Intellectuals in Makkah, including this opinion: ‘Differences in schools of thought reflect the rich nature of Islamic thought sources.’”
Former foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar signed the resolution on behalf of Malaysia at the 34th session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers.
Under the resolution, member states are obliged to:
Recognise the importance of promoting Islamic brotherhood and unity as a sacred religious obligation and objective;
Adopt appropriate individual and collective measures to remove all causes of prejudice, hatred, provocation and incitement as well as sectarian violence between the followers of different Islamic schools of thought;
Refrain from politicising any possible religious dispute between Muslims;
Cooperate in promoting tolerance and understanding between Muslims and consolidating the Islamic fraternity.
