Deputy minister defends PM skipping D-8 summit, cites foreign leader visit

Summary

• Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Islamic Affairs) Zulkifli Hasan defends the prime minister’s absence from the D-8 Summit in Cairo, Egypt.

• He says Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedow made an official visit to Malaysia at the same time, which the prime minister had to attend to.

• Zulkifli reminds the rakyat that spreading slander is a sinful act.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was unable to attend the D-8 Summit in Cairo, Egypt as he was receiving a foreign head of state in Malaysia, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Islamic Affairs) Zulkifli Hasan.

Zulkifli (above) was responding to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s criticism of Anwar for not attending the summit.

“On the dates (Dec 18-19), Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedow made an official visit to Malaysia.

“Both leaders exchanged views on regional and international affairs, including touching on Malaysia being chair of Asean this year.

“I personally attended two meetings with the delegation from Turkmenistan, which was held in Kompleks Perdana Putra, Putrajaya,” he said on Facebook yesterday.

‘Not genuine Madani’

D-8 refers to an economic cooperation group among developing nations, including Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkiye.

Founded in 1996, the D-8 coalition represents 1.27 billion people - or about 63 percent of the global Muslim population.

On Dec 31, Hadi said Anwar’s absence from the summit was evidence that the Madani concept championed by the prime minister and government is not genuine.

Hadi contrasted Anwar’s absence with former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whom he said had attempted to strengthen D-8 by organising a summit in Kuala Lumpur.

“The absence of Malaysia’s current prime minister, who promotes the Madani slogan, shows that his struggle does not reflect the true Islamic Madani, which is associated with the city of Madinah as named by the Prophet Muhammad.

“Instead, his struggle depends on the secular Madani concept linked to institutions like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and BlackRock,” the Marang MP was reported as saying. 

It should be noted that while Anwar did not attend the summit, he sent a delegation led by Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir to represent him in the event.

In the summit, Zulkifli pointed out that Zambry had raised the government’s concerns about the aggression committed by the Israeli forces in Gaza and Lebanon.

“The minister has called for a stop to the Israeli government’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, which is in line with the prime minister’s commitment to championing the Palestinian struggle,” he added.

Stop the slander

Without naming anyone, Zulkilfi reminded Muslims that slandering is a sinful act, which would lead those involved to the depths of depravity.

He also reminded the public that many countries look up to Malaysia as a model for a peaceful nation dwelled by people of various races and religions.

As such, Zulkifli urged the masses to verify any information given (tabayyun) to ensure it was factual.

“Islam demands this to ensure truth, justice, and harmony prevail in the community.

“Apart from tabayyun, Islam also teaches its adherents not to think ill of others and is against spreading gossip and slander,” Zulkifli stressed.

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