“To me, the need for unity of our ummah as well as bringing development to our communities are the two most important ways to meet those challenges,” His Majesty said.

The King observed that Muslims are now living in a world divided by all sorts of categories that have put them against each other, with hatred and intolerance having reached alarming levels and the news being full of sadness and pain, marked by a great sense of loss and tragedy.

“Nonetheless, I strongly feel this need not be so and that we can look to ourselves to seek a peaceful path, for Islam is a religion that encourages rationality, scientific thinking and strong ethics,” he said.

The King said this in his Royal Address when opening the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019 in Kuala Lumpur today in the presence of Muslim leaders such as the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Hamad Al Thani (below, middle), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Also gracing the event is Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah. 

Al-Sultan Abdullah noted that Muslims come from different countries, history and practise different rituals in all corners of the earth.

“And yet, we are all united by the universal pillars of Islam... we cross borders and time zones and are able to come together in prayer. It is truly wonderful.” 

It is thus clear, he said, that Muslims are making efforts towards achieving unity in their daily lives.

“Perhaps the time has come for us to broaden our individual efforts to transcend towards the wider ummah. Let us all join together and pledge our commitment to practise what we perform five times a day in our global personas, to improve the lives of our ummah and rebuild the Islamic civilisation to where it was before,” His Majesty said.

Al-Sultan Abdullah added that he is not going to pretend that the challenges facing Muslims today are easy to solve, describing it as a daunting task which requires major undertakings by all members of the community.

“However, I believe this should not hinder us from our efforts towards our noble goal of achieving unity among our diverse, but yet rich and vibrant communities.”

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong viewed the Kuala Lumpur Summit as an important platform for Islamic leaders, scholars and others to meet and signify unity.

“By doing so, we will discover that despite our apparent differences, the challenges that we all face are similar. As the prosperity and development of one country can be shared within our greater ummah, it’s appropriate that the theme of this conference emphasises on development and national sovereignty,” he said.

In his speech, His Majesty also touched on the importance of dialogue to correct misunderstandings about Islam and as a way to understand one another and to cooperate despite differences as well as to engage in the healthy pursuit of excellence.

“Through the use of dialogue, Muslims will have a powerful platform to correct the misconceptions of their faith among people of other religions and ideologies, and to improve their interactions and relationships with other cultures and civilisations,” he said.

To enable such dialogue, the way forward for Islam must also include a stronger understanding of the faith and using that as the foundation, he added.

“When we accomplish this, we will create a new generation of Muslims that can perform their role with wisdom, courage, fairness and justice,” he said, adding that they are at a significant advantage in the modern world, with instant access to greater knowledge.

“With the combination of positive values, access to information and communication technology, the ability to embrace differences and other faiths, this new generation of Muslims has great potential to revive Islamic civilisation and be a user in a new Golden Age of Islam.”

To run until Saturday, the summit aims to, among others, deliberate on and find new and workable solutions to problems afflicting the Muslim world.

- Bernama