Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has congratulated the Fiji Muslim League on its centenary, paying tribute to generations of Muslims who have contributed to the organisation and the wider Fijian community.
In a message dated August 17, Anwar also congratulated the Fiji Muslim Youth Movement on its publication and reflected on the League’s establishment at the Jamia Masjid in Toorak in October 1926.
“In the century since, it has served Fiji’s Muslims through its schools, its mosques, its care for families in difficulty and its contribution to public life,” he said.
Anwar said much of the League’s work had been carried out by people whose names may not have been recorded.
“The centenary belongs to them as much as to the founders.”
The Malaysian Prime Minister also recalled his visit to Suva in June 1981, when representatives of Fiji’s Muslim youth organisations came together for discussions.
He said the understanding reached during those discussions helped lay the foundation for a united Muslim youth movement whose contribution continued more than four decades later.
Anwar stressed the importance of unity as the League enters its second century.
“That spirit of unity remains as important today as it was then,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the Fiji Muslim League would continue to flourish and that the Fiji Muslim Youth Movement would continue nurturing people who could contribute to Fiji and the wider Muslim community.
“May Allah SWT continue to bless the Fiji Muslim League, the Fiji Muslim Youth Movement and all those who have dedicated themselves to this noble cause,” Anwar said.
