Pak Lah gave his maiden speech in UN , and it was neither dull nor extraordinary. The points he raised were quite valid, but hardly original. But it was his comment on terrorism and Islam that caught my attention.

Like so many Muslim leaders the world over, he seems to have missed the point. He calls for efforts to dispel the stereotype of associating Muslims with terrorism, a battle to change the mindsets of 'Islamophobes', if you will.

This again shows how most Muslim leaders in the world today are battling the wrong demons. If it were not for Muslim extremists perpetuating asymmetric warfare upon civilian targets, there would not be such stereotypes.

What Pak Lah should do, along with all other Muslim leaders in the world, is to launch an all-out war against fanaticism and extremism. There should also be a global effort to re-innovate Islam in the spirit of Ijtihad to keep it up with the times, rather than clinging on to traditions and interpretations that are centuries old.

It's a tendency for Muslim extremists to remain static and unchanging in the face of development making their cause incompatible with the social, political and economic norms of today.

I would like to offer two suggestions for Pak Lah to address to the world community.

Firstly, distinguish Muslim extremists for what they are - Wahabbists. Push for a clear distinction between Muslims and Wahabbists in the media. For instance, while the media now skirts around the topic by referring to terrorists as 'Muslim militants' and other almost politically-correct terms, there will be no harm in giving them a hard-and-fast label - like 'Wahabbist terrorists'.

Make it clear that Wahabbism is a separate animal altogether from actual Islam. That should help separate the stereotype between Muslims and terrorists somewhat.

Secondly, when addressing the Palestinian issue, he should not fall into the same trap as all the other typically-emotional (read: Arab) Muslim leaders. What is the sound of one hand clapping? Rather than just demanding that Israel reduce their excessive use of force, he should also bring to attention the indoctrination of hate that is being spread amongst the young minds of Palestine by the Palestinian Authority.

There should be global pressure to defuse elements of hatred and anger on both sides, and it is best approached in a pragmatic and practical manner. Only when Israel vacates illegally annexed lands and reduce their excessive use of force, in conjunction with Palestine's willingness to accept Israel's self-determination and stop its campaign of hate towards the Jewish entity, can there by any realistic inroads to peace in the Middle East.

We'll get nothing by pitting an infinite force against an immovable object. Pak Lah can take the first step as the first Muslim leader in the world to openly condemn acts of hatred and injustice on both sides of the fence, rather than just being an ordinary Muslim leader who sides blindly with Palestine while criticising the Jewish state endlessly.

If he employed the former tactic, would this not make Malaysia shine in the eyes of the world? Wouldn't such a move be attributed to his concept of Islam Hadhari, and thus enlighten the world about the big difference between Wahabbism and moderate Islam?

We cannot underestimate this 'war on terror', as cliched as it may sound. Just because we tell ourselves there isn't a 'clash of civilisations' does not make the fact go away - that there is a clash of civilisations.

But not between modern civilisations. It's a clash between ancient worldviews held by a single party that does not intend to evolve from past centuries. It's the worldview of Wahabbists that the war between the Caliphates and the Byzantine Empire is still going on.

It is the Wahabbists who refuse to accept the fact that the world has gotten that much smaller and we are now a global village, for their agenda is eventual global conquest under the banner of their hardline ideology. Whenever any acts of terror are committed, the terrorists will inadvertently use the Palestinian issue as a justification.

Pak Lah should take the lead as a Muslim leader with a practical two-pronged approach towards ending the demonisation of Islam by the rest of the world - by exposing a cult (Wahabbism) for what it is openly, and making sure that the world makes a distinction between Islam and that spin-off cult; and by taking a no-holds barred approach to the Israel-Palestine issue to deprive terrorists of a major excuse for their future crimes.