Kuala Lumpur
– The Secretary-General of the Association, Chairman of the Association of Muslim Scholars, Sheikh Dr. Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, inaugurated in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, the “Council of Southeast Asian Scholars”, under the patronage of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mr. Anwar bin Ibrahim, and in the presence of His Excellency his deputy. , Dr. Ahmed Zahid Hamidi, in addition to senior scholars and muftis in ASEAN countries.
The “ASEAN Scholars Council” is the first comprehensive Islamic council in the region, and includes senior muftis and scholars in Southeast Asian countries, and it is the first of the “regional scholarly councils” that the Muslim World League worked to establish around the world.
The “ASEAN Scholars Council” represents a platform to bring together the word of scholars on their major issues, in which ideas are exchanged and visions are unified, to reach solutions to common problems in the countries of Southeast Asia.
The Council will also be a bridge of communication between peoples within the countries of the region, and between them and the Islamic world, in addition to launching practical initiatives to strengthen Islamic identity within the framework of societal harmony and comprehensive citizenship.
The inauguration of the council comes in implementation of the recommendations of the “Conference of Southeast Asian Scholars,” which was held in Kuala Lumpur on June 30, 2022 AD, where the conference recommended the establishment of a Council of Scholars in Southeast Asia under the umbrella of the Muslim World League. The recommendation was approved by the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
At the beginning of the council’s inauguration ceremony, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office for Religious Affairs in Malaysia, His Excellency Senator Haj Mohamed Naeem bin Haj Mukhtar, delivered a welcome speech, in which he thanked His Excellency the Secretary-General of the Association for his cooperation with the Malaysian government in this important event.
Then the Secretary-General of the Association, Sheikh Dr. Muhammad Al-Issa, announced the inauguration of the first session of the Council, through a speech in which he stressed the importance of the unity of the voice of the region’s scholars on their major Islamic issues, noting the role of this Council in undertaking the task of unifying opinion on public issues, at the forefront of which is confronting malicious campaigns. It targets the religion of Islam, either out of ignorance or intentionally.
Dr. confirmed. Al-Issa said that scholars, with the knowledge and insight God has given them, must assume their responsibility in confronting those campaigns that, unfortunately, generated the ideas of so-called Islamophobia (Islamophobia), which came from a wrong understanding of the religion of Islam or from positions that were intentionally offensive and then Promote it.
Dr. expressed. Al-Issa expressed his hope that this council will successively issue efforts to confront these campaigns by all means.
He pointed out that scholars bear a great responsibility in this regard and other major issues of the nation, and they must, in particular, enlighten Islamic youth, enhance their awareness, and protect their thoughts from evil. His Excellency also stressed the importance of the role of the family and education.
He pointed out the importance of research and studies being issued by the Southeast Asian Scholars Council, with a focus on highlighting the truth of Islam, especially its eminence.
In turn, His Excellency the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, expressed in his speech his appreciation for the attendance of scholars and muftis for this important event, thanking in this context the Muslim World League and its Secretary-General, Sheikh Dr. Muhammad Al-Issa, expressing his hope that the Southeast Asian Scholars Council will play a decisive role in confronting extremism, promoting moderation and centrism, and supporting social cohesion and popular cooperation.
At the conclusion of its deliberations, the Council praised the efforts made and the inspiring movement that led to the success of its establishment and the holding of its first sessions, noting in this context the contents of the “Mecca Document,” which brought together scholars of the Islamic nation from their various sects in Mecca in Ramadan, and also to the “Conference on Building Bridges between “Islamic sects,” which issued the “Document for Building Bridges between Islamic Sects,” last Ramadan in Mecca, in the presence of the Islamic nation’s scholars and muftis.
