KUALA LUMPUR: The Muslim World League and the Malaysian prime minister hosted a conference of religious leaders in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday to urge them to rise up and act for peace in the face of the genocide in Gaza.
The Second International Summit of Religious Leaders, which gathered global authorities representing all major religions, was organized by the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office and the MWL.
Themed “The Role of Religious Leaders in Resolving Conflicts,” it was opened by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and MWL Secretary-General Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa.
During the summit, speakers representing Muslim, Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist communities, discussed the role of religious leaders in standing up to violence and conflict, religious diplomacy and a special session on Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.
“This summit comes to place religious leaders before a historic responsibility regarding the values of their respective faiths, values that have been declared and must be actively applied in order to contribute to building global peace and harmony,” Al-Issa said in his opening speech.
“What is happening today in the Gaza Strip — genocide and heartbreaking famine witnessed by the entire international community — is a dangerous precedent in the principles of human rights.
“Since the issuance of the Universal Charter of the UN, our world has never seen anything like it. Sadly, this casts doubt on the credibility of international commitments.”
Israel has killed at least 62,895 Palestinians in its attacks on Gaza since October 2023.
The true death toll is feared to be much higher, as many people have died due to injury and lack of access to health care and food. This has been caused by the Israeli military’s destruction of most of Gaza’s infrastructure, the blocking of medical aid, and deliberate strategy of starvation that has pushed Gaza to famine.
Al-Issa called on the conference’s participants to focus not only on “abstract preaching,” but also to be “active in shaping peace,” and guiding their followers toward a joint commitment to human dignity.
Anwar also appealed to representatives of world religions to “take up the task” and act.
“Every day you see babies being killed, houses and people being bombed ... What on earth is happening in this world?” he said.
“Where is the voice of conscience that stands for our faith and moral values ... We have to rise up and religious leaders have to be more asserting in their views.”
About 1,500 guests attended the conference, including 150 foreign delegates from 54 countries.
The 2025 summit was the second international event held by the MWL in the Malaysian capital this week. It was preceded by the inaugural forum for scholars of Islamic jurisprudence held in the Malaysian capital by the MWL’s Islamic Fiqh Council.
