VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this year is again recruiting candidates for mosque imams from Indonesia. One of the conditions is that you must memorize 30 juz of Al-Qur'an (Hafiz). This year, they will recruit 100 hafizes.

Religious Affairs Minister, Fachrul Razi appreciated the trust of the UAE government.

"This cooperation has been running in the last few years. Recruitment of Indonesian Hafiz and trust from the UAE. We should appreciate this,” explained the Minister of Religious Affairs in Jakarta, Friday (16/10).

According to the Minister of Religious Affairs, becoming a Hafiz Al-Qur'an for non-Arabs is not easy. The opportunity to become the imam of a mosque in the UAE is part of the rewards for them.

"Hopefully, the blessings they spread will bless us all. God willing, this opportunity can also provide good welfare for them and their families," said the Minister of Religious Affairs.

Registration for the selection of mosque imams is open until October 20, 2020. Interested Al-Qur'an memorizers can send their data via e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. until October 20, 2020.

The selection process will be carried out on 2 - 4 November 2020. The selected participants will be sent to the UAE and serve for two years, according to the MoU agreement between Indonesia and the UAE.

According to the Minister of Religious Affairs, the cooperation between Indonesia and the UAE has been well established. Apart from sending mosque imams, Indonesia and the UAE are also collaborating in developing e-learning madrasas.

The Minister also appreciated the tolerance of religious communities in the United Arab Emirates. As a Muslim-majority country, the Minister of Religion considered that the UAE was successful in developing a tolerant and peaceful life in accordance with Islamic values ​​which are rahmatan lil alamin.

"I heard a lot directly from Indonesian imams who served there that the UAE can attract a lot of tourists from various countries, Muslim and non-Muslim, because of its tolerance," he said.

"It is imperative for every Muslim to show Islam as a religion of peace and tolerance," he said. (VOI)

The death tolls due to exposure to COVID-19 worldwide have reached over 1.1 million, with the highest number of deaths in the United States with 222,656 deaths.

Through its official website, Worldometer reports that the number of COVID-19 deaths has reached 1,101,420, as of Thursday (15/10/2020). Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 infections worldwide stands at 39,105,472 cases.

Under America, the highest number of COVID-19 deaths was reported by Brazil with 152,460 deaths, followed by India with 112,144 deaths, and the fourth by Mexico with 84,898 deaths.

Britain recorded 43,293 deaths, Italy with 36,372 deaths, Spain with 33,553 deaths, Peru 33,512 deaths, France 33,125 deaths, and Iran with 29,605 deaths.

Meanwhile, for the cure rate, there are 29.3 million patients worldwide declared cured of the disease. (RRI)

The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indonesian Embassy in Rabat in collaboration with the Moroccan Embassy in Jakarta, the Ministry of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia, and the Moroccan Alumni Association in Indonesia (HIMAMI) have organized an International Webinar themed "The Treasure of Indonesian and Moroccan Islamic Scientific Interaction" on Thursday, 15 October 2020.

This webinar activity is part of a series of activities to commemorate the 60th anniversary of RI-Morocco diplomatic relations.

The webinar was officially opened by the Middle East Director, Bagus Hendraning Kobarsyih. The Indonesian Ambassador in Rabat, Hasrul Azwar, and the Ambassador of Morocco in Jakarta, Ouadia Benabdillah also gave the opening remarks.

The Middle East Director in his speech emphasized that scientific interaction between the two countries had existed long before entering the 20th century.

Indonesia and Morocco are not only strategic partners in promoting moderate Islam in the international arena, but the two countries also have closeness and similarities in Islamic features.

"Through this International Webinar, it is hoped that the cooperation between Indonesia and Morocco, especially in education and Islamic scientific studies, can continue and develop with the intensification of cooperation and mutual visits between academics, scholars and students between the two countries," explained Bagus Hendraning.

As a resource person in the Webinar, Prof. Dr. Amani Lubis from UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Prof. Dr. Eka Putra Wirman from UIN Imam Bonjol Padang, Prof. Dr. Mohammed Rougi, Chancellor of Univ. Al-Qarawiyyin, Fes; and Dr. Khalid Zahri, Lecturer at Univ. Abdel Malik ben Saadi, highlighted various aspects of scientific, cultural, and historical interactions that have existed between Indonesia and Morocco both in the past and in modern times.

The thing that should be underlined according to the speakers is how this scientific interaction can be optimized for the interests of the two countries, by taking advantage of advances in existing communication technology, especially between universities.

Related to this, Prof. Amani Lubis who is also the Chancellor of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta, said that his party is currently realizing the plan to establish an Indonesian Study Center at Ibn Tofail Univ, Kenitra, Morocco.

On the other hand, the Webinar also discussed how good people to people relations between the two countries can encourage increased economic relations.

The 60th anniversary of RI-Morocco diplomatic relations will then be filled with a series of other activities, namely the activity of a Webinar on cooperation between Local Governments in the two countries on October 22, 2020, and there will be a Webinar between Kadins of the two countries, virtual business meetings, screening of national films/Indonesian documentaries on Moroccan TV and vice versa, and exhibitions on culture, art and trade promotion by respective Embassies. (VOI)

Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo while celebrating World Food Day stated that marine and fisheries sector commodities solve various food problems during this pandemic.

"Commemoration of Food Day is good momentum, to convince us that in facing the current hard conditions due to COVID-19, I am very optimistic that the marine and fisheries sector will be a solution," said Minister Edhy in Jakarta, Friday.

According to him, apart from being a solution for adequate food and nutrition for citizens, the marine and fisheries sector can also be a mainstay for both creating jobs and foreign exchange.

The Minister acknowledged that countries in the world were facing difficult times because the crisis occurred in three sectors at once, namely the health, economic and social crises, but he was optimistic that the marine and fisheries sectors could be a solution to boost Indonesia's economic growth.

This confidence is because he sees that the demand for Indonesian fishery products remains high in the international market, namely an increase in exports of 6.9 percent in the first semester of 2020 or the equivalent of $2.4 billion.

In addition, he said, fish resources in Indonesia are very abundant, namely, in capture fisheries, the potential reaches 12.5 million tons per year and cultivation land of over 4.5 million hectares.

"It's just that the results are not optimal," said the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. To increase production in the fisheries sector, Edhy stated that he routinely builds communication with many parties.

The communication, he continued, was not limited to stakeholders, but also local governments and ministries and institutions to world organizations, one of which was FAO.

Edhy gave an example of several successes in building communication, including the price of fish feed which did not increase during the pandemic, the ease of licensing boats over 30 GT which now only takes one hour, and the inclusion of fish in social assistance items.

To ensure the marine and fisheries sector's production chain runs during a pandemic, the KKP will channel several assistance from the National Economic Recovery Program.

Among them are portable refrigeration warehouses, fishing gear, floating net cages, facilities, and infrastructure for salt farmers in various regions in the country.

The Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries confirmed that KKP policies focus not only on economic growth but also on sustainability. (Antaranews)