Tun Mahathir On Malaysia As An Islamic State

Mahathir echoes 'Islamic state' claim

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has expressed tacit support for Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s recent declaration that Malaysia is an Islamic state.
“We consider ourselves an Islamic state regardless of whether it is written in the Federal Constitution or not. The reality is (that) we practise Islamic teachings in the administration of this country,” said Mahathir.
“This is a Muslim country because we follow Muslims teachings and Muslim injunctions, which make provisions for certain situations where injunctions cannot be carried out or can be amended.”
He said this at a press conference today on the sidelines of the International Conference on Gold Dinar Economy, organised by the Kelantan Research Institute and Strategic Studies in Kuala Lumpur.
Tun Mahathir was asked to respond to Najib’s comments last Tuesday where the latter had insisted that Malaysia is an Islamic state. A furore erupted, leading to a gag order barring the press from reporting public debate on the matter.
In September 2001,Tun Mahathir had made a similar declaration, but debate on the matter has waned over the years.
On apostasy,Tun Mahathir said Muslim converts typically seek to renounce their faith when they are involved in a mixed marriage.
“What we are following (presently) are certain interpretations which in many places are contrary to the teachings of the Koran,” he said.
“These are the interpretations made by certain people in countries where Muslims make up 100 percent of the population. They have no problems.”
Asked if Muslim converts should be allowed to renounce their faith, Tun Mahathir replied: “That is for the ulama to return to the teachings of the Quran and make a proper interpretation. I’m sure this happens in many other countries.”
He refused to be drawn into the debate as to whether or not there is growing religious intolerance in the country, but cited the case of former Argentine president Carlos Menem who had to embrace Catholicism in order to hold the post, as an example of religious intolerance.
“I’m not responsible (for the country) now. I cannot talk about that (religious intolerance in Malaysia)... In many countries, they have that kind of intolerant situation,” was all he would say.

Dinar economy

Tun Mahathir, delivering the keynote address at the conference, addressed the application of a Dinar economy as the alternative to using US dollars in international trade.
He said many countries were being “held to ransom” because they have reserves in US dollars.
“These same dollars are being used by the US to finance the production of weapons to kill Muslims, to kill the Palestinians, Iraqis and Afghans,” he said.
Use of the gold Dinar, he said, would reduce the power of the Western banking system and countries would benefit due to the constant value of gold.
“The need today is to persuade governments to enter into bilateral payment arrangements in gold Dinar. The system has already been worked out, it remains just to take this first step,” he noted.
Elaorating on this later, Mahathir said he was not proposing this to the Malaysian government but that he was only expressing his ideas.
The Dinar is a gold coin made of 4.25 grams of 22k gold. Kelantan is the sole state in Malaysia that has issued such coins.