I wish to comment on the letter Restoring the rightful place of Islam .

The writer suggests that broadening the powers of the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Conference) - of which Malaysia currently leads - will only encourage the oppression of Shia Muslims by Sunni Muslims.

In that case, what about the United Nations? Despite the fact that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council are the most misbehaving countries and use the UN to impose sanctions and legitimise war, the rest of the world still has faith in the UN.

This is because a forum to air your grievances, no matter how ineffective, is better than no forum at all. The same goes for the OIC. It is better for the Muslims have some semblance of unity than total disunity and chaos, as is the present state now.

It is worthwhile noting that the OIC is a like a sick dog in its present state. Muslim countries attend the meetings as and when they please. The OIC is no better than the Arab League - when the majority of Arab countries were incensed by Kuwait's intentional sabotaging of world oil prices, Kuwait responded by simply not turning up.

Thus, the first power that needs to be bequeathed upon the OIC is disciplinary power. The OIC is a political organisation. To suggest that widening its power base will de detrimental to Muslims is, in fact, illogical.

How can it be disadvantageous for Muslims to have a bigger say in their affairs except in the eyes of the non-Muslim superpowers? Leaders of Muslim countries will then less enthusiastic to misinterpret the Quran as they will have to justify their actions to their audience at the OIC.

Since most misinterpretations of the Quran are all too obvious, there will not be any confusion happening if the OIC can put its foot down. Most Islamic laws are clearly black or white.

However, one must not discount the agenda of the hostile Western media which will harp on trivial grey areas such as 'whether Muslim women are required to cover their heads'. Their intention will be to pre-empt any possible fostering of Muslim unity or the empowerment of the OIC.

I hope Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will use Malaysia's leading role in the OIC to formulate and bring about the reality of OIC's empowerment to solve the problems faced by Muslims worldwide.