The Malaysian prime minister expressed these views during a keynote address at the Emirates International Forum in Dubai yesterday.

"We really don't understand how it works, especially liberal democracy, and it will do us more damage than whatever system that we practise in our countries. It is not the system that matters. It is good governance by good people that we need," he told the large gathering assembled at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

"We have had no part in the formulation of these ideas, nor with the periodical reinterpretation and enlargement of their application. Quite naturally we will fail because our religion must insist on justice and morality and not the absolute freedom leading to immorality now being advocated by the West," he said.

Dr Mahathir said feudal kings, even dictators, have provided and can provide good governance.

Indeed benign kings and dictators, conscious of their duty, adhering to the teachings of the religion can provide better governments than elected presidents bent on maintaining popularity at all costs, he observed.

"The only thing good about democracy is that theoretically at least, we can change governments without violence," he remarked in his speech on " Meeting the challenges of the 21st century : Role of Muslim Nations".

" ... Indeed democracy causes a great deal of instability in many countries. Political parties mushroom and use bribery, corruption, threats and economic disruptions in order to fight each other. Development cannot take place as everything is politicised. The energy and the wealth of the whole nation is wasted in political infighting between numerous political parties set up for nothing more than the furtherance of the political ambitions of various aspirants for the highest post in the country," he said.

The outspoken statesman said that if the Muslim countries want to play a role in this century they must first establish good governments dedicated to achieving the status of a developed country.

"We are not going to be able to do this overnight. There is nothing inherent in Islam or in Muslims to prevent them from achieving this," he remarked.

Dwelling at length on the history and evolution of various ideologies and political systems of the West, Dr Mahathir said that today democracy does not work even in the most experienced democracies of the West.

"What is working now is money, not majority will. No one can win elections without money. The cost of campaigns is so high that the poor aspirants can get nowhere unless they are supported by people with money. In the end it is the wealthy who will rule the country, not directly perhaps, but as effectively as if they are sitting in the chief executive's chair," he remarked.

The "abuses" and "distortions" of the democratic system will go on until one day it gets discarded in favour of a new system, the architect of modern Malaysia said.

During his speech he made references to feudalism, republicanism, socialism and communism. "Now capitalism is triumphant as it rides on the back of democracy. But already the distortions are showing up. Eventually democracy, liberalism, the free market will all be discarded," he predicted.

Dr Mahathir said Muslim nations must help contribute towards world peace and prosperity by adopting a rational and clear-headed policy in their relations with each other and with the rest of the world.

"Muslims and Muslim countries must once again play the role that they played when they built the great Muslim civilisation. After achieving this or even while striving to achieve this it is most likely that many of the problems in relation between Muslim and non-Muslim countries will be resolved," he asserted.

Stating that Muslim countries must have a big say in shaping of a globalised world, he called upon them to face the challenges of the 21st century with "rationality and resoluteness. Our role is not to be dominated or to dominate but to be equal partners in a richer equitable world that is more rational. It is the duty of Muslims to give Islam a good image even if it gains us nothing," he said.

Asserting that globalisation as it is presently defined will benefit only the rich few, Dr Mahathir said: "We must base our stand on the logic of our interpretation rather than merely say that it is based on our faith.

Muslims may accept the injunctions of the religion without question but others will not. We must put up our ideas and proposals based on logic and reasoning and on the maximum good that it can bring to the maximum number of people. Our proposals must be more equitable and fair, aiming at nothing less than the enriching of all the peoples of the world, irrespective of race or religion or geographical location".

Dr Mahathir said the Muslim countries can no way "isolate" and "insulate" themselves in the Information age which is transforming our lives completely.

"We are going to be assailed by information, both good and bad, and those which can undermine our faith. We will have to strengthen our Islamic morals not by appealing to blind faith but to reason and logic," he said.

He called upon Muslims to eschew "aggressiveness" and "thoughtless violence" and urged to seek peace and seek to live in peace with the rest of the world.

"We must, of course, be capable of defending ourselves with our own weapons but they should never be used for blatant aggression," Dr Mahathir said.

He said Muslims must acquire knowledge in all fields to ensure the well-being of Muslims and the safety of their countries.

"We interpret seeking knowledge as learning about religion only. We stress religious studies and religious piety in order to gain merit in the next world. In the process, we neglect the injunction of Islam to always be equipped to defend ourselves and to put fear in the hearts of the enemy."

The Malaysian leader said that the Muslims must go back to the true teachings of Islam, to the Holy Quran and the Hadith.

" The truth is that we have deviated from the teachings of Islam, we have at times actually rejected it in practical terms. We have grossly abused it," he said.

He added that indiscriminate acts of terrorism have weakened Muslim governments and countries.

He said for most Muslim countries the due process of law has not been institutionalised, even though Muslim jurists abound in Muslim societies.

"After 1,400 years we have still not codified Islamic laws, leaving it to the judge to refer to instances of similar crimes in the past to pass judgment and sentence," he said.

Dr Mahathir said Muslim countries should be governed well, promoting stability and economic growth, using the wealth we generate to build infrastructures and to equip ourselves with all the skills of the Industrial and Information age.

He said the capacity of Islam to come out victorious in an ideological war is worsened by our own insistence and emphasis on form rather than substance.

"After we Muslims received the message of Islam, the only new ideas which have come our way have come from the rich North. Islam is faced with an ideological challenge and the challenges of more new ideas will come out of the North," he said.

"Indeed our religion gives us all the necessary guidance. If we are today lagging behind, disdained and oppressed by others, it is because we have actually forsaken the true teachings of our religion and returned to our pre-Islamic ways; feuding with each other, closing our minds to modern knowledge, ignoring reality, deceiving ourselves that we are better than others when we are not," Dr Mahathir said.