At the heart of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) discussions being held in Makkah is a simple formula: Education breeds tolerance and tolerance breeds peace. Its antithesis is that poverty breeds ignorance and ignorance breeds violence. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday made clear in his opening address that it was poor education among many of the world’s Muslims that has been exploited by Al-Qaeda and its satraps in its vicious campaign of terror.
Later in the day Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi produced some shocking figures to demonstrate that a third of the world’s Muslim population lives in great need and suffering. The Malaysian leader said that the average annual income of $1000 in Muslim countries is only a fifth of the average for the rest of the world.
Worse, the average daily income in half of the OIC member states is barely $2 a day. To compound this terrible statistic, in 19 member countries, half the adult population is illiterate. In such stark circumstances it is hardly surprising that many OIC states are struggling to confront the menace of terrorists whose perverted message appears to promise so much to the poor and ignorant.
King Abdullah called for Muslim unity in the face of these immense challenges. And unity is indeed an absolute necessity. What is required is not so much geopolitical unity but an immediate and determined unity of purpose. Governments may face the depravities of internal terror as resolutely as they like, but unless they can destroy the poverty and ignorance which the likes of Osama Bin Laden have exploited so cynically to mislead people into their evil ranks, political stoicism will hardly be enough. Religious education, in which the Kingdom has played such a leading role globally, is only part of the story.
Muslims also need to be equipped with a general education which will also enable them to improve the lives of their families and their communities. By doing so, proper advantage could be taken of funding channeled from richer Muslim countries. Badawi called for a strategy to confront poverty and ignorance. There was surely no one in the conference room who disagreed with him.
The challenge now is to match words with deeds. The first task would seem to be to identify where and how this massive task of education can begin. The OIC ought to be just the body to undertake an audit of the educational resources that are currently available in all member countries.
It is doubtless an immense undertaking but it clearly must be done so that the scale of the problem can be accurately assessed and targets for assistance be identified. From this survey an action plan can be produced in order to improve primary and secondary education and attack the scandal of adult illiteracy. Once this is in place, it will be time enough to examine the ways in which the massive project can be funded.
