Hawzah News Agency – Dr. Mohd Rizal bin Abdrahman was Malaysia’s representative at the 4th International MODEL OIC Summit that was held in Mashhad, Iran in October. Dr. Mohd Rizal is a young medical doctor who is widely involved in social activities in his country; he is a member of the Malaysian Youth Parliament and the chairman of the UMNO’s Youth's Young Professionals Bureau. Here you can read Hawzah News’ interview with him.

How was  your experience of Iran?

This is my first time visiting  Iran and it’s not like what I imagined. To be honest, I was quite anxious when I got the invitation to come over here, because in the past years the way people had described Iran for me was not the true face of Iran. Of course the western media have been bombarding Iran quite bad and also in Malaysia itself there’s not enough engagement with Iranians. But once I came into the country and learned about Iran’s history I liked it and it wasn’t like what I thought. Iran is a lovely country and I decided to stay in Iran one more week so I can really learn about its people, culture and history.

What do you think about the improving relationships between Iran and Malaysia?

As I’ve been telling many of my friends, this definitely will not be the last time I come here; I hope it’s going to be the first of many. Everyone knows western countries especially the US are trying to create instability in the region. Iran is one of the biggest powers in the region and I think Malaysia should really work on doing more engagement with Iran and see how we can work better together. I personally would like to bring members from my youth organization here so we can engage more with Iranians and we all see what we can learn from each other.

Is it true that currently some Eastern Asian countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia are facing the challenge of growing Takfiri groups like ISIS?

Yes, it is a concern in both these countries.  As we discussed here in the past few days, Takfirism is a problem that we all really need to fight against. Takfirism is why Islamophobia exists. Takfirism confuses people, both Muslims and non-Muslims, about what Islam is.  So it’s a challenge not only for South Asian countries, but for all of us and we all should really fight against Takfirism. I think Takfirism is closely related to peoples level of education, because people who are not educated could be easily manipulated, so the only way to really fight against Takfirism is through education.

How did you feel about Imam Ridha’s (as) holy shrine?

I went to Imam Ridha’s (as) holy shrine, and yes, I saw differences in the way Iranians practice Islam, but that’s not something that bothers me, because we have lots of other things in common that we could cherish. I think Mashhad is a lovely place and the holy shrine is really beautiful. I actually posted some photos from Mashhad on my Instagram and recommended my Malaysian followers to come to Mashhad and see this city.

Any final comments?

I just want to point out that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has started working about 50 years ago and the main purpose of this organization is to create Islamic solidarity. I think one of the reasons that this important purpose has not been really achieved yet is that we have been focusing on our differences too much, rather than focusing on so many things that we have in common. Before this I was quite skeptical that this goal could ever be achieved, but coming to this conference and looking at the spirits of young representatives of each country definitely changed my mind.

End.