Speaking at a talk titled “Redistribution of Wealth: Shared Prosperity”, he said there are some 1.7 billion Muslims worldwide who could increase the purchasing power of Muslim countries.

“This buying power can be positively exploited to help Muslim countries,” he told members of the audience who include leaders of Muslim countries.

He also referred to the “Buy Muslim-made first” campaign in Malaysia, saying that when a Muslim urges other Muslims to buy such products, they are labelled as racist.

“We never ask anyone to boycott non-Muslim products,” he said, adding that the campaign was merely to help Muslims in Malaysia to prosper.

He said Muslims, especially in Malaysia and even in Indonesia, are relatively weak in the business sector.

“They face problems marketing Muslim goods,” he added.

He also said Muslim countries are still dependant on the West, to the extent that they become “puppets” even though they are rich in resources such as oil and gas.

This, he said, was because Muslim countries lacked a trade bloc that united all Muslims.

“This is the sad reality of the ummah.”

He urged Muslims at the individual, national and international level to foster “Islamic solidarity” in order to achieve economic freedom.

He said this could put an end to the issue of halal and haram food while ensuring food security among Muslims.