KUALA LUMPUR: If Muslims want others to embrace Islam, they should show by their behaviour and attitude that Islam is a great religion, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Thursday 30th of August.
Muslims should show that Islam was capable of ensuring success not just in the afterlife but in this world itself, he said in opening the International Da’Wah Institute Perkim.
However, he lamented, there were Muslims who were projecting Islam as unsuccessful through their behaviour, including killing in the name of Islam and not governing their nations properly.
“In the first place, Islam tells us we are brothers, but we are not behaving like brothers. We are fighting each other. Islam forbids killing but we are killing each other.
“Islam advocates fairness and justice but we are not practising it. It’s not only happening in Malaysia but other countries.
“Because of the wrongdoings of our Muslim brothers, Islam gets a bad image, and this will not attract people to this great religion,” he said.
Saying Islam was a good religion and a way of life, Dr Mahathir stressed that the way Muslims lived would tell people whether Islam was a good religion.
The prime minister pointed out that what Muslims were doing was not in accordance with the teachings of Islam, and that at times, Muslims were not helping themselves and actually doing things that drove people away from Islam.
The Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman said in propagating the religion of Islam, it was a Muslim’s duty to show that those who embraced the teachings of Islam would be successful not only in the afterlife but also in this world.
“We have to show that Islam is not a hindrance, and not an obstruction to the success of Muslims. We must be recognised as people who are successful in all fields, in the field of knowledge, management, and governance, among others, to show that as Muslims we can govern ourselves, be successful and knowledgeable.
“Unfortunately we are not stressing those things. We must study the religion of Islam because we must know what our religion teaches us. Unfortunately, we hardly know the teachings of Islam,” he said.
Mahathir said it was time for Muslims to review their behaviour, and ask themselves if they were living the life of a Muslim.
“I feel that we have failed to do so, because you see Muslims are backward people, poor people, even given to begging others for help. When we are like that I don’t think people will be attracted to the teachings of Islam.
“The spreading of dakwah to all communities and people, should also be through showing the success of all Muslims, their love for peace and their brotherly attitude towards other Muslims. That they should not be enemies of people who do not attack them. It’s part of the teachings of Islam.
“If we do that, Muslims will show a good example to the world at large and people will be attracted to the teachings of Islam,” he said, adding that this should also be taught to preachers and missionaries.
