A2. MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD, ADDRESS TO THE TENTH SESSION OF THE ISLAMIC SUMMIT CONFERENCE, PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA, 16 OCTOBER 2003 (EXCERPTS).

Abstract

The prime minister's lengthy speech, clearly intended as his farewell address before retiring after twenty-three years in power, is a stinging indictment of the disarray, division, and irrationality of today's Muslim countries and their inability to close ranks ““if not on all issues, at least on some major ones, such as Palestine.”” Sharply criticized in the West for its perceived anti-Semitism (see paragraphs 32, 34, 39, 42, 51––53), the address was widely disseminated in the Islamic world where its critique of current Muslim ““backwardness”” (for which distortions of Islam and the Prophet's teachings by the Muslims themselves are held responsible) had all the more resonance in that it came from the much respected Mahathir bin Mohamad. Indeed, the Malaysian leader, who presided over the modernization of his multiethnic, multisectarian country, is credited with Malaysia's transformation into one of the most prosperous in Asia and a unique success story in the Islamic world. The standing ovation given by the fifty-six heads of state present could be seen to underscore the extent to which his analysis reflects Muslim feelings world-wide. The full transcript is posted on the OIC Web site at www.bernama.com.