Qaradawi Urges Malaysia to Uphold its Islamic Characteristics
Ahmed Abdul Salam ? 23/12/2009 ? Qaradawi.net
Doha ? The scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi urged Malaysia to conserve its Islamic characteristics indoctrinated in Shafie School and Aqeedah Ash?ariyyah to stop intellectual infiltration of any kind from abroad.
This came at the end of his visit to Malaysia on Monday 22 Dec 2009 and lasted six days to participate in an Award Ceremony of ?Hijrah Nabawiah? on Friday, in recognition of his contributions and studies in service of Islam and its people.
During a meeting yesterday with Prime Minister Dato? Sri Najib Tun Razak, Sheikh Qaradawi urged the Prime Minister and ulama to be together to preserve Islamic character of Shafie School and Aqeedah Ash?ariyyah of Malaysia in order to stop intellectual infiltration from abroad that might distract and spoil the unity of their faith.
The proportion of Muslims in Malaysia reaches 57%, who practices Sunni Shafie School, while the rest of the population are Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, and other religions. Malaysia has been able to distance itself from terrorist attacks in Southeast Asia especially from Indonesia, which suffered from a series of bombings and attacks perpetrated by extremist militants who adopts Al-Qaeda ideology.
Sheikh Qaradawi also discussed during a meeting with officials and ulama the situation of Muslims in Malaysia and neighbouring Muslim countries. In this context, he expressed his hope that Malaysia could invest its political capabilities and good relations with Islamic countries towards uniting the Muslims, according to Qatari newspaper Al-Arab on Tuesday 22 Dec 2009.
Sheikh Qaradawi took the opportunity of this visit to deliver a number of lectures on Islamic moderation.
Away from Differences
The Prime Minister highlighted the speech of Sheikh Qaradawi, stressing his Government?s concern on preserving Islamic character of Malaysia away from differences of schools that splitting and not uniting.
He pointed out that his country is making diplomatic efforts to solve the problems of Muslim minorities in Southeast Asia, citing the example of Malaysian endeavours to help the Muslims in southern Thailand.
He explained that his country is consulting with influential Arab and Islamic countries to solve problems between groups and Islamic countries, noting that he will soon visit the Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The Prime Minister also drew a special invitation to Sheikh Qaradawi to visit Malaysia again in soonest time to deliver a lecture at his residence with presence of ministers, ulama and eminent personalities.
Before leaving Kuala Lumpur, Sheikh Qaradawi visited the headquarters of Malaysian Islamic Party and met with its President, Dato Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and his Vice President Nasaruddin Isa as well as its leaders and parliament members.
Sheikh Qaradawi also responded to an invitation from former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim to deliver a public lecture in Sultan Salahuddin Shah Mosque in Selangor, one of the famous and biggest mosques in Malaysia.
Award for poor students
On the other hand, the Malaysian Department of Islamic Affairs announced that Sheikh Qaradawi, President of International Union of Muslim Scholars would donate 40% of the ?Hijrah? award he received from the Malaysian Government to help students who are unable to pay university fees at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).
A statement from the official said that Qaradawi donated RM40,000 to the university?s Endowment Fund, according to Bernama on Monday 21 Dec 2009.
Qaradawi handed over his donation to Dr. Syed Arabi Aidid, the Rector of IIUM.
Qaradawi used to donate some or all of the prize money awarded to him without announcing it, except once that he announced his donation of AED 1 million worth of World Islamic Personality Award granted by Dubai government some 10 years ago.
Sheikh Qaradawi left Malaysia for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Monday evening to attend the ceremony of Prince Nayef bin AbdulAziz Al Saud International Award for Prophetic Traditions and Contemporary Islamic Studies, which will begin on Wednesday 23 Dec 2009 with participation of more than 150 international personalities.
Original Article (in Arabic):
