Gripped as most parts of the Muslim world are by religious extremists' violence, ending terrorism and extremism and promoting tolerance was the common theme in the speeches that the leaders of the Muslim world delivered at the Third Extraordinary Summit of the OIC in Makkah.
General Pervez Musharraf urged condemnation and rejection of all forces of terrorism and extremism, and the banning of organisations that preach hate and violence. "We must promote the Islamic values of tolerance and moderation," he said. Which is the sensible way forward. Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, however, suggested a more specific academic exercise to combat the problem, calling on the Islamic Fiqh Academy "to assume its historic role and responsibility in all walks of life...so as to restore the Ummah to its rightful place in the balance of power."
The Fiqh Academy may have a role to play in the peculiar situation Saudi Arabia itself is facing currently, since its arch dissident, Osama bin Laden, bases his extremist ideology on his interpretation of the Fiqh. But in general the extremist violence emanating from and taking place within other Muslim societies derives its inspiration from issues that are more of a political than a religious nature.
The OIC as a collective body, therefore, would be well advised to deal with the issue in that perspective and stay away from generating new religion related controversies.
The organisation must focus on devising plans and strategies that can uplift the Muslim peoples out of socio-economic backwardness, which has contributed significantly to the spread of intolerance and the resultant extremist violence.
As General Musharraf pointed out in his speech, "Our economies remain fragile and mostly dependent on raw material production, even the rich among us are consumers of the fruits of modernisation and innovation of other advanced nations who are shaping the direction of progress and future of the world."
While the advanced nations are exploring ever newer frontiers of knowledge, most countries of the Muslim world remain mired in ignorance and underdevelopment. Even the ones that are endowed with abundant oil riches have not bothered to invest in science and technology so as to diversify their economies and secure the future well being of their citizens.
There is need to pay attention to this dire failing within OIC members' domestic contexts as well as on the collective efforts. General Musharraf had a good suggestion to make as he emphasised the need for establishing a network of centres of excellence in science and technology in the Muslim world. Towards that end, he recommended that the OIC members must commit to subscribe 0.01 percent or 0.05 of their GDP.
This, of course, was not an off the cuff suggestion. General Musharraf, in fact, had done his homework, complete with mathematical details, on the proposal. He explained that the money thus collected would amount to around $180 million or $90 million. Actually, the wealthier oil-rich nations can easily contribute $90 million on an individual country level.
The dividends that the project is to bring will be for all to share and take pride in. Instead of wistfully recalling the great contributions that the Muslim scholars made to various disciplines of learning during the Islamic civilisation's heyday, let the Extraordinary Summit of OIC take extraordinary steps towards the resurgence of the Muslim world's long lost glory.
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