The forum, on the theme ‘Muslim Unity in Times of Geopolitical Crisis’, featured Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as moderator, alongside four panellists.

Joining the discussion as panellists were deputy chairman of the Board of Trustees at Ibn Haldun University, Necmeddin Bilal Erdogan, minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (religious affairs) Zulkifli Hasan, Islamic Institute for Development and Research director Sharif Hasan Al-Banna, and Khairudin Aljunied of the National University of Singapore.

German-born Ozil, son of Turkish immigrants, was a German international from 2009 to 2018 and holds the record for the most German national team Player of the Year awards with five. He is expected to be in Malaysia until Thursday to participate in several programmes, including a leadership summit in Kuala Lumpur and a football clinic in Perak.

Ozil has expressed political views in support of the Uyghurs in China, Azerbaijan in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, and announced his support for Palestine in the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis. He has also been active in promoting more British Asians in football.