KUALA LUMPUR: The call for jihad by extremists who portray it as a struggle in the name of Allah is misleading and unacceptable, says secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Tan Sri Iyad Ameen Madani.
Madani said he disagreed with extremists’ point of view on jihad which included killing of innocent women and children.
“The term (jihad) has been misused by extremists to convince young people to join them. A true Muslim sees jihad as a way of being a good person. That is the real jihad,” he told reporters after attending the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Global Forum, entitled ‘Overview of the OIC and its Activities’, here, yesterday.
Madani also touched on the Islamic State (IS) militant group’s misuse of the jihad term to attract people to accept its ideology.
“But have you ever heard of any action by IS to fight Israel? No, because they think they have to kill the people in Syria and Iraq.
“This is misleading and we have to face a world which sees Islam in a negative way,” he said.
Madani arrived here on Tuesday for a three-day working visit. This is his first visit to Malaysia since being appointed as the OIC secretary-general in January 2014.
He said to minimise the influence of extremists, countries had to understand their movements and objectives.
“We need to understand this phenomenon, whether it is a political conflict, economic factor or the social environment, and what causes a person to become an extremist, what attracts the young generation to accept such ideas and enrol with such a movement,” he said.
OIC is the second largest inter-governmental organisation after the United Nations which has a membership of 57 states spread over four continents.
Malaysia has been a member of OIC since its establishment in 1969. Malaysia’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman was the first OIC secretary-general. — Bernama