Malaysia defends Muslim summit shunned by Saudi, slammed by OIC

Hosting asummitofMuslimleaders,Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad bemoaned the state of Islam and defended the meeting that has beenshunnedbySaudiArabia and criticised for undermining the bigger Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Divisions in theMuslimworld were self-evident as only about 20 countries sent leaders, or delegations to the Kuala Lumpursummit, though all 57 members of theOIChad been invited.

TheSaudi King's refusal to attend and the late withdrawal of Pakistan from the event had left the hosts scrambling to soothe sensitive relations.

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In welcoming remarks, Mahathir said the Kuala LumpurSummitwas meant to understand why Islam, theMuslims and their countries were "in a state of crisis, helpless and unworthy of this great religion".

It was unclear to what extent the leaders would discuss major geopolitical crises afflicting theMuslimworld, ranging from the age-old disputes in the Middle East and Kashmir to the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, through to the plight of RohingyaMuslims in Myanmar and the alleged persecution of UighurMuslims in China's Xinjiang region.

Mahathir said thesummit, which will end on Saturday, should address the world's perceptions of Islam, the rise of Islamophobia, the decline of the Islamic civilisation and reforms in governance needed byMuslimnations.

"We are not discriminating or isolating anyone," he said in his welcome speech, watched on by leaders including Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamid Al-Thani.

"We are attempting to start small and if these ideas, proposals and solutions are acceptable and proved workable, then we hope to take it up to the larger platform for consideration."

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan struck a similar tone.

"We will have the opportunity to talk freely about our issues, from Islamophobia to terrorism, divisions, internal fights ravaging our region, and sectarian and ethnic conflicts,” Erdogan told thesummit.

TheOIChad said it was against the interests of the Islamic community to convene meetings outside theSaudi-based organisation, which has for decades acted as the collective voice of theMuslimworld.

Both Mahathir and Erdogan have been frustrated by theOIC's past record of hand-wringing and failure to take firm action in support ofMuslimcauses.

Without mentioning theOICby name, Erdogan said the biggest problem that platforms bringing the Islamic world together faced was a lack of implementation.

"If we still haven't made any progress regarding the Palestinian cause, if we still can't stop the exploitation of our resources, if we still can't say "stop" to the fragmentation of theMuslimworld over sectarianism, that's why.”

Some analysts also suspected thatSaudiArabia's reluctance to attend stemmed from the fear of being diplomatically isolated by regional rivals Iran, Qatar and Turkey, all of whom are attending thesummit.

Worried about taking sides, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan opted to stay away from the Kuala Lumpursummit.

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"Pakistan wants to become part of the solution and not part of the problem," Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan told reporters in Islamabad.