THE Grand Mufti of Palestine yesterday [April 23] called upon the Muslim countries to develop a sense of one body politic and work concertedly to counter the intrigues of those who had wilfully created problems to disrupt Islamic solidarity.

In this context he specifically referred to the burning issues of Kashmir, Palestine and Cyprus which, he said, were manipulated by the British and their imperialist allies to grind their own axe.

He called for worldwide Muslim unity to solve these problems justly and in keeping with Muslim self-respect and honour.

The Grand Mufti was speaking at the Executive Council meeting of the Motamar Al-Alam Al-Islami in Karachi, while summing up the day-long discussions on the Secretary-General, Mr Inamullah’s report, surveying the manifold problems — social, economic and religious — in the Muslim world.

About a dozen Councillors, representing Muslim countries from Indonesia to Morocco, spoke at the two sessions spread over six hours. They all stressed the need for Muslim solidarity in the face of machination of the anti-Islamic forces and for the cherished goal of Islamic glory.

Mr Hasan Qutbi of Saudi Arabia said that more effective ways and means should be devised to project the Muslim points of view in order to checkmate efforts made by interested quarters to sabotage the Muslim cause in one way or the other — be it the cause of Kashmir, Palestine or Cyprus or that of Islamic solidarity.

He warmly complimented Pakistan for its consistent championing of the cause of Islam and Muslims consistently since its inception.

Mr Qutbi stressed that efforts be made to clarify each issue on merit because different problems required solutions of varying nature.

He pointed out that while in Kashmir the problem was one of the right of self-determination, in the case of Cyprus it was chiefly the question of two distinct nationalities.

Shaikh Mohammad Amin Al-Shankiti (Jordan) urged the mobilisation of world Muslim opinion on the need for holding a Muslim summit conference.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2017