PM Najib proposes different approach in defeating extremism

Against the backdrop of a rising threat from the proponents of a so-called Islamic State, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak told the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that the world must take a different approach in defeating militant extremists and their ideologies.

The prime minister said: “This time, (it) must be different. This time, we must defeat not just the extremists, but also their ideas.”

The world must confront the heresy of a state conceived by ungodly men and enforced through violence, he said during the general debate of the 69th UNGA at the United Nations headquarters, here, Friday (Saturday in Malaysia).

He said that in its place, the true Islam must be advanced; the Islam founded on the principles of peace, tolerance and respect, as set out in the Quran, 'Sunnah' and 'hadith'.

Najib said that in addressing the current threat of extremism, "the question is: how should we respond? In the past, when the world was mobilised to fight extremists, we launched wars without planning for peace. We have attacked one evil only to see a greater evil emerge."

Najib said Iraq and Syria, which were fractured by war, faced a new threat: a self-declared Islamic State, and its victims were the Sunni and Shia, Yazidi and Kurd: "any who will not bow before the sword".

"This so-called state, torn from existing nations with violence, rules by violence. Its authority is maintained by forced conversions and public executions.

"Its militants have destroyed lives and communities. They have destabilised fragile nations and threatened regional security," he said.

He said they challenged the very notion of the state and called on youths with the siren song of illegitimate 'jihad' and they demanded that all Muslims swear allegiance to their so-called caliph.

“That demand will never be met. We reject this so-called Islamic State. We reject this state defined by extremism. And, we condemn the violence being committed in the name of Islam,” he said.

Najib said Muslims have watched in despair as their religion – a religion of peace – was used to justify atrocities.

“We know that the threat to world peace and security is not Islam, but extremism: intolerant, violent and militant extremism,” he said.

Najib defined the true meaning of an Islamic state, saying it must deliver economic, political and social justice.

He said it must protect and further the six objectives of Islamic law: the right to life, religion, family, property, dignity and intellect – the same universal rights enshrined in the UN declaration on human rights.

“The so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq – and the methods used to declare it – has violated every single one of those objectives. It is therefore neither Islamic, nor a state,” he said.

Najib outlined key actions that needed to be taken by the international community in taking the different approaches in combating extremists and their ideologies.

Firstly, he said, security and statehood must be returned to the people of Syria and Iraq.

Malaysia, he said, called on the international community to stop the flow of money and recruits to extremist groups and was committed to continue offering humanitarian assistance to those displaced by fighting.

"Attacks on militant targets should, at all cost, avoid collateral damage,” he said.

Secondly, the international community must pursue a different kind of politics as the emergence of these militants was a symptom of political failure; of poor governance in fragile states, and the conflict that still raged between the Sunni and the Shia.

“We must break the cycle where one group gains power only to wield it against the other. Where marginalisation leads to radicalisation, as people lose confidence in the state’s ability to provide both security and co-existence.

"Individuals and ethnic and religious groups need to feel they have a stake in a nation’s success, not its failure. So, we should commit to more inclusive politics. This is difficult work ... it must come from within,” he said.

Najib said Malaysia stood ready to share its experience of marginalising extremism, of maintaining a multi-religious country where different faiths co-exist and prosper and of showing that Islam could not only succeed, but drive progress and development in a pluralistic society.