VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Office of Indonesian Presidential Special Envoy for Dialogue and Interfaith Cooperation and Civilization Affairs will hold a High Level Consultation of World Muslim Scholars on the Wasatiyat Islam (HLC-WMS). The summit will be held in Bogor, West Java on May 1-3, 2018 and in Jakarta on May 4, 2018.

There are several issues related to the Wasatiyat Islam that will be discussed at the Summit, starting from the level of conception, its implementation in the world, and also the challenges in the future. In addition, Indonesia will specifically share its experience in implementing the Wasatiyat Islam during this time.

According to Indonesian Presidential Special Envoy for Dialogue and Interfaith Cooperation and Civilization Affairs, Din Syamsudin in his press conference in Jakarta, Wednesday, April 25, 2018 Wasatiyat Islam is an Islamic concept of the middle way in Indonesia and is often misunderstood as a moderate Islamic concept by western people.

“So, it’s called high-level consultation in term of Wasatiyat Islam. So, this is the consultation about Wasatiyat Islam. In Indonesia itself known as Islam Wasatiyat, shortly it is the middle way of Islam. So far, in the West it is often translated into moderate Islam and it is not suitable. Wasatiyat Islam is broader than moderate Islam there is tolerance, tend to the middle way, tend to solve problems by deliberation, recognize pluralism,” Din Syamsudin said.

Din Syamsudin further explained that the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, His Excellency Ahmed Ath-Thayeb will be present at the event as the keynote speaker. Around 50 prominent scholars and Indonesian Muslim scholars will participate in this activity. In addition there will be 50 prominent Muslim scholars from various countries, including from United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria, Algeria, Singapore, Philippines, India, Canada, United States (USA), Russia, Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Jordan. (VOI/Rezha/DP)