On the sidelines of the “International Conference on Rights of Nations and Legitimate Freedoms in the Intellectual System of Ayatollah Khamenei,” held on Sunday, 30 November 2025 (9 Azar 1404) at the Guardian Council Research Institute in Tehran, Tasnim News Agency conducted an exclusive interview with Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid, President of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations (MAPIM) and adviser to the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
In a wide-ranging discussion, the prominent Malaysian Islamic leader hailed Ayatollah Khamenei as the clearest and most steadfast voice in the world today urging the Muslim Ummah to reorganize itself, break free from Western hegemony, and restore its authentic Qibla – the true axis of unity, sovereignty, and divine leadership that has been displaced by subservience to Washington, London, or other Western powers.
Abdul Hamid described the Leader of the Islamic Revolution’s thought as the most relevant answer to the multiple crises facing humanity – from endless wars and environmental collapse to food insecurity and moral decay – and stressed that the ongoing genocide in Gaza has exposed Western hypocrisy on human rights and demolished the credibility of “normalization” with the Israeli regime.
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The following is the full text of the interview:
Tasnim: Thank you for the time sir. You are attending an ongoing conference in Tehran which is on the rights of the people as well as legitimate freedoms from the perspective of the Ayatollah Khamenei. How do you assess this issue and what is your evaluation of the Ayatollah Khamenei’s characteristics and his views in this regard?
Abdul Hamid: Firstly, I should congratulate this conference. It is timely and very important. Now the world is grappling with issues that are unprecedented — from war to environmental crisis, even food crisis and all that. The Ayatollah’s (Khamenei) thoughts are now relevant. This is the answer to the crisis. He is promoting very solid thinking about what the world should do and how people should organize themselves.
We do not want to submit anymore to Western hegemony and let them decide the world order as they have done. We have to reset it. The Ayatollah (Khamenei) has been giving that message from day one: we have to reorganize the Ummah. We have to reach out to non-Muslims because there is now a real awakening — not of governments, but of people. So we have high potential to put the thoughts of the Ayatollah at the center stage of the world crisis.
Tasnim: Western states and governments have been trying to label Iran, particularly the Islamic Republic, as well as the religion of Islam, as opposing freedom and human rights. They have been trying to say that these are similar to the religious governments of the West during the Middle Ages. What is your take on that?
Abdul Hamid: There has been a long perception that anything to do with Islam — whether the religion or a nation that wants to make Islam its policy — is a threat. Anything anti-West or even anti-Chinese has been seen as a threat, and therefore they have to deal with it. The main thing they are doing is pushing a propaganda agenda we call Islamophobia.
This is what we are facing: the labeling and terrorizing of Islam and Muslims has been their main agenda, and they are doing it very effectively through the media they control and everything else. My take is that yes, this is what we are in reality facing from the West. It’s about thoughts, perception, the mind — how you see Islam in the real sense and not always linking it to terrorism and violence. This is the propaganda we have to confront and counter.
Tasnim: In relation to this issue, whoever criticizes the genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza by the Israeli regime is accused of being anti-Semitic. We have also been witnessing violations of human rights in Western countries, including the United States, against migrants and minorities. How do you assess this double standard and the way they behave toward human rights and freedoms?
Abdul Hamid: It’s not just double standard — it’s hypocrisy of the highest level, and they know it. Even among intellectuals in the West — from London to Paris to Washington — voices are coming out saying they are doing this hypocrisy in a very obvious way. The world is watching and understanding this. I sense that the time will come when there is an implosion from within the Western world — people will rise up against their own governments because of this.
The word “anti-Semitism” is now being questioned. What right do they have to say that criticizing the most obvious genocide and violation of international law is equal to anti-Semitism? People will not logically accept that. So now we do not have to worry about this labeling.
We should go back to the central issue: there is international violation by Israel, backed by the US, and there is a very clear double-standard. They are not working to stop this genocide in Gaza — they are backing it all the way. And I think that the anti-Semitism will never again be the central argument. And we have to have the courage to name what is wrong as wrong.
Tasnim: Criticism against Israel now seems to go beyond the Muslim world. We are seeing it even in Eastern non-Muslim countries and within the United States — specifically from progressives on the left and even from the extreme right, including MAGA supporters of Donald Trump in the US — clearly and publicly criticizing Israel. Do you think this is important and serious, and could it be the beginning of a new trend for the future and the world views toward Israel? and what is the main cause for that?
Abdul Hamid: Definitely. This is a trend that is unstoppable. From Korea to South Africa to Latin America and even in the West, countries are now speaking out against Israel, voting against Israel, mentioning sanctions, punishment, and accountability. The US is complicit — that is very clear. Politicians in Western parliaments are starting to rise up. But we cannot just talk about it.
What we have to do is that we have to create convergence of Muslims and non-Muslims under the name of humanity, justice, and human dignity. We have to bring up this issue and focus on Israel as a rogue and illegal state practicing an apartheid system. We have to characterize Israel in real meaning.
Muslims and non-Muslims together must put forward unified voices and really pressure for accountability against what Israel has been doing. And the world has to start doing it courageously, not just with rhetoric. We have tools: the ICJ, the ICC, we have the BRICS now. We should use them. I’m not talking only about the Global South — I’m talking about the global majority of people coming together and stopping this oppression.
Tasnim: You mentioned that many today in the region and beyond consider Israel the main source of threat. Previously, Israel and the United States tried to label Iran as a threat to the region. Now we are seeing Arab and non-Arab countries rethinking their approach toward Iran and talking more about engagement with Tehran. It seems Israel’s aggression and genocide in Gaza, and attacks on Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and even the strike on the US base in Qatar, have provoked a change in perceptions. What is your take on that? And what should Muslim community and world do in this regard?
Abdul Hamid: I think Iran has shown its resilience remarkably. Now we start to understand the inner sense of the struggle and resistance that has been shown by Iran and by Imam Khomeini and that now opens up the eyes of the world. Israel aggression or assault against Iran doesn’t belong to current time. It has been [in place] for 46 years of the revolution and Iran still stays intact although Iran is paying a very high price now.
Now the Muslim world is talking about the only one country that is able to stand up and retaliate is Iran. With all that is happening, as you said: When Israel attack Lebanon, attack Syria, then attack Yemen and then attack Qatar. Qatar [has] the biggest US military base in the Middle East and with that Iran gave a message to them that this is not only a red line, this is totally unacceptable. And they have to rethink all this. Why we are seeing Iran as a threat and now they are asking themselves: did we have the right stance against Iran? Now world is watching and world is talking about Iran as the only country that we should be able to connect and voice out this unity of the Ummah and the issue of uniting the Ummah.
That is a very critical issue and that is what Ayatollah Khamenei has been always reminding again and again that once we are not focusing on unity then the world powers use our weaknesses of this division. So that is why I think Iran is gaining prominence. Iran is showing the people the resilience of people not only government.
Iran has shown also the way how we should reset the whole system of the world where we should now be more courageous and we should help the resistance movements [towards] economic resistance, we have to have political resistance, we have to have military resistance. That is practically what Iran is showing. That's why people are now watching Iran as the only hope.
Tasnim: Within this context, some are raising the issue of normalization with Israel by certain Muslim countries. What is your assessment of this proposal? Do you think that this could be a great mistake? Or do you suggest such kind of solution?
Abdul Hamid: We were cornered by Trump with his Abraham Accords — that was the tool he used for so-called normalization with Israel. At the early stage, that idea was rejected by grassroots masses, but because some governments and ruling elites accepted it only to secure their own positions and survive, they seem to welcome this [accords] as a survival [method]. After what they saw in Gaza — which was a real eye-opener — all the promises that these countries would benefit from normalization have collapsed.
There is now big reservation toward normalization. I don’t think that idea will become reality anymore, especially if Muslim nations can converge and stop relying on the US for every decision.
I just wrote a small book titled “When the Ummah Lost Their Qibla”. Qibla is not just the direction of prayer — it is reference, leadership, unity, sovereignty. People ask me, “What do you mean by losing Qibla?”, “Where is our Qibla now?” Our Qibla is now [turning towards] sometimes Washington, sometimes London, sometimes Moscow. It’s ridiculous. We have to bring our Qibla back. And that is a very big task.
The most prominent and consistent voice saying there is no other answer except reorganizing ourselves and restoring our true Qibla is the Ayatollah [Khamenei]. There is no other answer. Together we should be having a strong leadership and we have to transform what's happening today in the world.
Tasnim: You’re talking about unity in the Muslim world. Should this unity be limited to political or religious issues, or does it need to go beyond into economic, scientific, and other fields? What scope you are defining for such kind of unity, as a result of the emerging technologies?
Abdul Hamid: I’ll get back to the verses of [Qur’an]. The Qur’an says “hold fast to the rope of Allah all together” — strength is not in numbers but in quality. When we say unite, it has to be at every level, it has to be comprehensive in many fields such as, education, trade, economics, culture, politics, intellectuals, scholars — everything. Leaders and elites must show genuine unity, not just serve their vested interests.
So I think that we should come back to this uniting force. For instance, I organized a platform called the “World Alliance of Mosques in Defense of Al-Aqsa”. People asked why Al-Aqsa — I said because Al-Aqsa is the only uniting factor now. Whether Shia or Sunni, we all agree Al-Aqsa is ours and we must defend it. No quarrel, no dispute. Let’s go for the common interests among the Muslims, what we all agree on. That is what leaders must show. When Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia goes around the Muslim world calling for unity, I told him the only way is to treat differences as things we manage and focus on fundamentals.
We have very clear fundamentals: one Aqeedah [belief in Allah Almighty], one Qur’an — no question about it. Now we have to show it practically in the real world. That is what Malaysia is trying to initiate, and we should do that throughout the whole Muslim world that we are able to contact and connect with.
Tasnim: Your Excellency Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid, thank you very much for taking the time to join us.
Abdul Hamid: You’re most welcome. Thank you.