PUTRAJAYA: The Wasatiyyah Institute of Malaysia under the Prime Minister's Department today held its third intellectual discourse on human rights issues in Malaysia, based on the Islamic perspective.
Helmed by the Islamic affairs advisor to the prime minister, Tan Sri Dr Abdullah Md Zin, who is also the chairman of the institute, the closed-door intellectual debate featured 30 Muslim intellects from top local universities as well as Institut Integriti Malaysia.
Dr Murni Wan Mohd Nor, the senior lecturer of the Nation and Civilisation Department in the faculty of Human Ecology, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), presented her research papers on "Western Human Rights: Agenda and Hypocrisy" which the participants deliberated on.
The two-and-a-half hour session was moderated by the director of Wasatiyyah Institute, Datuk Mohd Yusof Din.
The Muslim scholars dissected current human rights issues in Malaysia that could be contradictory to Islamic values, such as public nudity and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual (LGBT) movement.
They also proposed upholding the Charter of Medina and Human Rights Universal Declaration as a more holistic approach in tackling the current humanitarian crisis in the Muslim world.
All the participants unanimously agreed that the Middle East conflict could be resolved if the Arab nations are more united and Muslim brotherhood could be fostered among all Muslim countries in the world.
"We discussed current issues that are directly impacting the Muslims in this country as well as around the world," said Abdullah.
"We will publish a book as a follow-up to our Wasatiyyah talk series and share it with the PM and the cabinet ministers."
Abdullah said the institute, set up four years ago, aimed at humanising the wasatiyyah (moderation) approach in the lives of Malaysian Muslims.
The National Wasatiyyah Policy serves as the main reference in implementing the policy to the local Muslim communities.
The prime minister chairs the National Wasatiyyah Policy Implementation Committee Meeting. The meeting centred on discussions on the importance of being attentive to current and future challenges regarding issues, which could threaten the nation’s stability and harmony.