Muslims plead for better understanding of Islam

The discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, switched from areas such as terrorism and modernisation to the nuclear balance in the Middle East.

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, Islamic extremists have been blamed for attacks as far apart as Amman, Bali, Istanbul, London, Madrid and Saudi Arabia, among others, leaving many hundreds dead.

Queen Rania of Jordan told the audience that terror groups which used Islam to justify attacks had "led the Muslim world to a critical crossroads of self-examination and self-definition."

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf argued that the tensions had more to do with Western, rather than democratic, values or modernisation.

"If you're talking of westernisation, yes, that is in conflict with Islam and Islamic teaching because we have our different values," he said, adding it was normal for all cultures to maintain their respective identities.

But Hajim Alhasani, president of the Iraq National Assembly, argued that Muslim intellectuals and reformers saw more of Islam's core values outside the Middle East.

"They find Islam more in the West than they find it in Muslim countries," he maintained, because while Islamic philosophers had helped foster human values in the 19th century, "the problem with Muslim countries is that you don't find these values and principles implemented within the Muslim society.