Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani has said Muslims cannot allow the extremists who interpret Islam from narrow perspective to hijack Islam.
The OIC chief made the statement after holding meetings with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque on Sunday.
Terming Islam as a religion of tolerance, he said: "We cannot allow ourselves to be taken away by literal translation of narrow minded extremists."
Madani also termed conflict between Shiah and Sunni, and Sunni and Sunni as sectarian violence.
He said OIC would not get involved in domestic politics of any country.
About the election on January 5, Madani said OIC has welcomed the results of the election and look forward to working with the officials of the government of Bangladesh.
The secretary general arrived in the city on a three-day official visit on Sunday. He is leading a five-member delegation on his first visit to Bangladesh after taking office in January.
Madani, a former minister of Saudi Arabia, assumed office as the tenth Secretary General on January 1 this year after his election in the 12th OIC Summit held in Cairo in February 2013.
The OIC is the second largest international organisation (after the UN family) that groups together 57 Muslim-majority countries spread over four continents.
It was established through a decision of the summit in Rabat on September 25, 1969 in response to an act of criminal arson of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem of Palestine.
The Organisation’s main objective is to protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various peoples of the world.
