Malaysian PM urges to boost Muslim community bonding

Muslim community bonding must be strengthened through the worldview of Islam to renew the spirit of unity, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said. These are imperative if Muslim communities are seeking a wider and active role in Asean, he said in his inaugural address at the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM) International Symposium on 'Islam and The New Era of Asean Countries: Unity of Worldview Towards a Shared Prosperity', here Tuesday, according to a Bernama report. The need to respect the principles of diversity and to establish social justice based on timeless universal religious principles are the other imperatives, he said. There are 220 million Asean Muslims who constitute around 40% of the Asean population today, so there is a need to renew the understanding of Islam, he said. The two-day conference is to identify basis of Muslim co-operation through the worldview of Islam and to search for initiatives in the current crisis of civilisation.