KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16: Muslims must acquire skills and technology so they can create modern weapons and "strike fear into the hearts of our enemies", Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday.
Mr Mahathir told an international conference of young Muslim leaders here that they must catch up with Western development to "prevent Islam from being humiliated, looked down upon and regarded as a religion of terrorists."
Frustrations in the Muslim world led to anger and rash actions, such as suicide bombing, but this did not benefit Islam and would not lead to victory, Mr Mahathir said.
"We need modern weapons. We need tanks, battleships, fighter planes, knowledge of rockets. These are the weapons that can strike fear into the hearts of our enemies and defend us."
He said Muslim nations depended on others, including their enemies, for such weapons and received only inferior versions, making no effort to invent, design and test such weapons themselves.
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