Headline Waking up the silent majority MediaTitle (Sabah) Date 24 Jan 2016 Language English Circulation 24,000 Readership 72,000 Section News Color Full Color Page No 12,13 ArticleSize 1656 cm² AdValue RM 15,651 PR Value RM 46,953

'Waking up' the silent majority

helm in October last year, what A JALIL HAMID TOUCH CHALLENGE: Global Movement of Moderates AND ADRIAN LAI have you accomplished so far, and what are some changes you KUALA LUMPUR Foundation should focus on this group, says CEO plan to introduce? [email protected] Answer: When I first started, I had A VETERAN politician and re­ nessed first­hand from his hotel University of Jordan. Question: Could you explain to us to do some housekeeping, which in­ spected Islamic scholar, room window, have only strength­ Before entering active politics, he the idea behind GMM and its ob­ cluded the restructuring of GMM's Nasharudin Mat Isa is no ened his resolve to counter extrem­ was a lecturer at the International jectives? administration. After that, I started stranger to big challenges. ism through dialogue and public Islamic University of . In Answer: The idea to set up GMM engaging various sectors, both on Prior to his appointment as the diplomacy. 1999, he left academia to take up the was originally conceived by Prime the local and international fronts. chief executive officer of the Global Speaking in polished English, post of Pas secretary­general. Minister Datuk Seri For example, GMM has agreed to Movement of Moderates Founda­ Nasharudin says it is imper­ Hand­picked for the posi­ during his speech at the Umno gen­ sign a memorandum of under­ tion (GMM) in October last year, atiVe for the global com­ tion by the then party eral assembly in 2010. In 2012, GMM standing (MoU) with three local Nasharudin was once a high­profile munity to act against president Datuk Fadzil was founded as a platform to pro­ universities. Pas leader. He was Pas deputy pres­ the rising trend of ex­ Noor, Nasharudin was mote moderation around the world I have introduced an interaction ident from 2005 to 2011. tremist tendencies one of the central fig­ as well as strengthen foreign rela­ programme with university stu­ Today, as the new face of GMM, and Islamophobia, or ures who helped tions. dents. The first group of students Nasharudin is championing risk having the voice modernise Pas dur­ I think the formation of GMM is that visited the GMM office recently Malaysia's cause to help spread the of moderates being ing the late 1990s timely as we are currently facing the was from Universiti Kebangsaan message of moderation globally. drowned out by hate. and In the 2000s. threat of religious extremism and Malaysia (UKM). We will host an in­ In an exclusive interview with the Driven by his pas­ A two­term mem­ radicalism. With that said, the mod­ ternational conference on religion New Sunday Times, the 53­year­old sion for the lan­ ber of parliament, erate approach should be applied and global peace at UKM in May. Nasharudin outlined plans to revi­ guage, during his forma­ Nasharudin eventually not only to religious matters, but We are also working with Univer­ talise the four­year­old foundation tive years, Nasharudin fur­ gave up active politics in 2013 also political and sociocultural is­ siti Utara Malaysia to come up with and reach out to a greater target thered his studies in India and to work with various non­govern­ sues. We want to provide a balanced a barometer to measure the level of audience abound the world. Jordan, before completing his mas­ mental organisations on Islamic approach in handling the various moderation in Malaysia. The third Nasharudin says the events that ter's degree in Comparative Laws in matters. threats around us. university we are working with is unfolded during the Jan 14 terror Malaysia. He also holds a degree in He says politics will take a back Universiti Islam Malaysia, a re­ attack in Jakarta, which he wit­ Islamic Jurisprudence from the seat for now. Question: Since taking over the search­based institution. Headline Waking up the silent majority MediaTitle New Straits Times (Sabah) Date 24 Jan 2016 Language English Circulation 24,000 Readership 72,000 Section News Color Full Color Page No 12,13 ArticleSize 1656 cm² AdValue RM 15,651 PR Value RM 46,953

GMM is also exploring areas of going to trade it for a few minutes at cooperation with the Australian the negotiation table. government in many fields, includ­ I think GMM should concentrat ing countering violent extremism. on talking to the silent majority ol We are getting connected with var­ moderates. We are the majority, but ious institutions and universities we are largely silent compared with there to get them to share their idea the minority. We need to unite the of moderation. During my visit to silent majority and promote the the Organisation of Islamic Coop­ idea of moderation on a more eration headquarters in Jeddah re­ prominent stage because the ex­ cently, we agreed to sign an MoU to tremists are gaining prominence work closely on the issue of Islam­ just by detonating a bomb. ophobia. GMM has also renewed re­ lations with several countries, in­ Question: What is the root cause cluding Russia, China, and India. of religious orf in case, Is­ lamic extremism? Question: What is your main task Answer: There are many individ­ as CEO of GMM and what are uals in the Muslim community who some of the challenges you have thirst for Islamic knowledge but get faced so far? ' their information from the wrong Answer: My main task is to pro­ source. That is how people wrongly mote the idea of moderation. The interpret Islam, the hadith and ji­ prime minister also wants us to pro­ had. In the Middle East, where the mote Malaysia as a good example of centre of terror is, people are driven tolerance, without denying the fact by the need to survive and combat that we, too, have our issues. the oppression they are facing. Ev­ Nonetheless, I feel that Malaysia is eryone has different reasons to turn in prime position to promote tol­ to extremism. erance and moderation. On the home front, there is no One of the fears during the start of cause for panic, but if we do not my tenure was that I would "Is­ spread awareness and curb extrem­ lamise" GMM. Given my back­ ism, we could turn out to belike the ground, I cannot deny my involve­ /• f Middle East. ment in the Islamic world, but I al­ I have been promoting ways reiterate the importance of Question: Will it be harder for upholding the Federal Constitution and will continue Malaysia, as a multiracial and with Islam as the official religion. multirellglous society, to pro­ As I've mentioned earlier, mod­ to promote the idea of mote moderation? eration does not just concern reli­ moderation. We should Answer: Malaysia has been able to gion, but also matters relating to handle differences in an hon­ politics and economics. For exam­ not leave it to political ourable manner. I think we are in ple, during an international halal prime position to promote moder­ festival in China two weeks ago, I parties to do it. If the ation because we resolve our dif­ was given the opportunity to ex­ ferences peacefully, not by killing plain what moderation is all about people, including non­ each other. Incidents of religious vi­ to an international audience. I was governmental organisations, olence are few and far between, even interviewed by CCTV News on compared with other countries the topic of moderation. unite, the silent majority of where places of worship are de­ moderates can silence the stroyed and people are killed. Question: What is your definition of moderation and can it be com­ voice of extremism." Question: As the former Pas No. 2, pared to the concept of was­ how will your political experi­ satiyyah in Islam? ence help GMM move forward? Answer: Until today, I can't find the Answer: I have been promoting and right definition for the word mod­ Nasharudin Mat Is a will continue to promote the idea of eration as it is relative. There are Global Movement of Moderates Foundation moderation. We should not leave it two Arabic words to describe mod­ chlefexecutlve officer to political parties to do it. If the eration: wassatiyah and i'tidal. The people, including non­governmen­ word wassatiyah has a religious tal organisations, unite, the silent connotation and is commonly used majority of moderates can silence "when talking about religious mat­ the voice of extremism. ters. The word i'tidal, however, cov­ However, there was scepticism ers a broader area of the concept of when I first joined GMM. In the moderation. past, I had called for Pas and Umno What I can say is that moderation to Sit down and work things out. is a balanced approach in handling of jihad. This is why Islamophobia One of the reasons I am engaging Are they forced to promote a foreign ­ I'm not saying they should merge issues. By that, 1 mean we do not should be one of the most impor­ university students is because I feel agenda in the name of Islam, by and I have never mentioned the idea swerve too far to the right or left tant topics discussed by GMM. that they are a very vulnerable making use of ignorant* frustrated of a unity government. I don't mind when taking a certain action. This is something new on GMM's group. I'm thinking about talking to and oppressed individuals? being criticised because I am now agenda. When I was first appointed the education minister (Datuk Seri immune to criticism. Question: What are your as CEO, I wanted Islam to be dis­ Mahdzir Khalid) to see if we can Question: What can GMM and Now, I have the platform and thoughts on religious extremism cussed and to let the public know promote moderation in the national like­minded bodies do to counter space to talk to many people and and what will GMM do to address what words like jihad, qital, and curriculum. These are ambitious Islamophobia? agencies. the issue? syahid actually mean. ideas, but 1 am confident it can be Answer: At this stage, at least, we Yes, GMM is funded by the gov­ Answer: Extremism is a very sub­ done with proper cooperation. need to start cooperating with other ernment, but I am not working for jective term and comes in many Question: What other measures institutions that share the common Umno or Pas. I am given a free hand forms. If you are talking about mil­ are GMM taking to curb the Question: Is the threat of Islam­ value of moderation. However, we to promote the idea of moderation to itant extremism, that is beyond spread of extremism in the coun­ ophobia getting more serious? will face the tough challenge of dis­ the public. GMM's control. Our priority now is try? Answer: It is getting more serious, seminating the message of moder? to educate the public on the need to Answer: I'm thinking about coop­ not in Malaysia, but in the Western ation. We have been thinking about Question: Are you planning to shed extremist thinking. For exam­ erating with the Malaysian Islamic world With what happened in recruiting moderate leaders as make a comeback to politics? pie, we need to talk about tire wrong Development Department (Jakim) Paris, Istanbul and Jakarta, I am be­ GMM's ambassadors, but the cost Answer; Well, I am quite happy interpretation of jihad. to instruct mosques to touch on the ginning to look at these attacks will be very high. with where I am now because I can The extreme interpretation of ji­ threat of terrorism during the Fri­ from a different perspective. The thing is, extremist groups function better in promoting mod­ had is all about killing. But jihad is day khutbah (sermon). GMM can Why is this happening? have an agenda and you cannot just eration. I am still in frequent con­ not about killing at all. Jihad is get a standardised text ready, while No wise Muslim would say that ask them to stop because their agen­ tact with Pas and Umno leaders. I'm about striving to be the best. It's not Jakim can help ensure that all these terror attacks reflect the true da includes the belief of being able not saying I'm well accepted by an easy task, but, hopefully, GMM mosques in the country use the text nature of Islam. Then why are these to go to heaven. The reward they both sides, but then again, there is can help spread the right meaning during Friday sermons. groups calling themselves Muslims? expect is huge and they are not no way to please everybody.