ISLAMABAD, April 12: President General Pervez Musharraf has vowed to combat terrorism and extremism under a holistic strategy and said his strategy of enlightened moderation was vital for durable global peace.
Inaugurating the two-day International Seerat Conference on ‘The universality of the message of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him)’, he urged religious scholars to help the government defeat extremism and terrorism and project the true values of Islam.
Terming extremism detrimental to progress, the president said that organisations fanning sectarian hatred would not be allowed to operate and publication and distribution of hate material would be stopped. He said that mosques would not be allowed to be used for inciting hatred. He said that mosques would again be transformed into centres of knowledge and excellence as they had been 500 years ago, when Muslims excelled in all spheres, including science and technology and trade.
Referring to education sector reforms, President Musharraf said that all course outlines would conform with modern times to meet the requirement of scientific advancement and socio-economic development. He said that Islam, which advocated peace, harmony and modernisation, is being maligned in the West as a religion of militancy, intolerance and extremism.
The president said that such misperceptions were reinforced by certain religious elements advocating extremism and militancy and fanning sectarian intolerance.
Referring to the dynamism of Islam, he said that modern challenges could be met through the concepts of ‘Ijma’ and ‘Ijtehad’ by seeking guidance from the Holy Quran and through evolving consensus. He underlined that the educated and enlightened segments of the society to promote the real values of Islam.
He said that the concept of jihad was also being confused with militancy, suicide bombings and terrorism. The president termed war against illiteracy, backwardness and hunger and disease Jihad-i-Akbar and said that some people preached militancy as jihad which, he added, was reinforcing the misperceptions against Islam.
President Musharraf said Islam was all for the empowerment of women and minorities and was fully compatible with modernisation and embraced scientific and technological advancement.
He said that the Ummah was facing enormous challenges as it lagged behind in science and technology, industrial advancement and human resource development.
He said that despite possessing 70 per cent of the world’s energy resources and 40 per cent of raw material, the collective GDP of the entire Ummah was less than that of a single industrialised state.
