Engagement between Muslims, others vital to avoid Islamophobia, says Anwar

The Star

It is important for Muslims to discuss other religions, cultures, and civilisations to live and survive in a multiracial country like Malaysia, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.  The Prime Minister said the lack of engagement on such discussions is also a reason for the spread of Islamophobia.  Read more at https://shorturl.at/DkgfW  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00The West, post-colonial period, must still retain the old precepts of the other

00:12and therefore, the misunderstanding, misinformation and rejection of the other,

00:21what we term now as Islamophobia. And we need to be blamed too. When we talk about

00:27civilization, that's why I commend this university for trying to attempt to engage with all the

00:33others. How do you then survive and live in a society like a multi-racial, multi-religious

00:38country in Malaysia and avoid discussing other religions, other cultures, other civilizations?

00:47And then demanding that the West must understand us. So I think it is an engagement that is

00:54required by us to get others to understand us and for us to understand them. That is why

01:02we have encouraged other than conferences such as this, Dialogue of Civilizations, Islam and

01:10Confucianism, because it's very relevant not only in Malaysia but in this region. It's not tolerance,

01:18it's learning from one another, it's understanding one another, it's appreciating the differences

01:24because the differences in terms of race or tribe or colour is not of our own volition but

01:32what was ordained by Allah SWT. So, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, my contention is

01:42that we must have the courage and conviction to continue discourse, the discourse

01:49with the spirit of lazzatul ma'rifah, to understand and appreciate and realize that this

02:02is a requirement to achieve not only peace and prosperity or even sustainability through

02:16reasoned discourse.

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