by Theleaders | April 27, 2026 12:13 pm
PUTRAJAYA, April 27 — Turkiye’s Necmeddin Bilal Erdogan has called on Muslim nations to learn from Malaysia’s Islamic finance sector to build financial systems that are not dependent on Western networks.
Speaking as one of the panellists at the 11th Forum Ilmuwan Malaysia Madani (FIM), he said Malaysia’s strength in Islamic finance offers a practical blueprint for collaboration.
“Malaysia is strong in Islamic finance, which other Muslim countries can take lessons from and do collaborative efforts in building those financial systems so that we are not dependent on Western financial networks,” he said.
Erdogan, who is Ibn Haldun University’s Board of Trustees deputy chairman, said the Muslim world remains too much bound and scared by the old shadows of Europe and America, and called for renewed self-confidence amid global shifts.
“For all of us, there are those old shadows upon us. I think we can have a renewed self-confidence given what is happening in the world, and I think that will bring us closer.
“We now see that the Western civilisation which has professed to offer the world stability, advancement, peace, freedom, democracy, liberal values, and so on, is no longer interested in those for the most part. Those values we understand are valid and relevant only as long as they serve Western interests,” he emphasised.
At the same time, Erdogan also pushed for greater institutional ties, especially in education, suggesting more student and lecturer exchanges between Malaysia and Turkiye.
“If we can invest in our high school kids, in our university kids to be friends, we will have invested in something tangible in the coming decades,” he added.
Meanwhile, Islamic Institute for Development and Research director Sharif Hasan Al-Banna, who is also the panellist at yesterday’s forum, said Muslim nations must strengthen bilateral trade and build an intra-Muslim trade bloc to reduce dependence on external financial systems.
He said economic integration is part of the four pathways to achieving practical Muslim unity, alongside functional cooperation, intellectual independence, and strategic alliances.
The forum, themed “Muslim Unity in Times of Geopolitical Crisis”, was moderated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
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