Grand Syekh Al Azhar Visits Jokowi At The Palace To Discuss Peace Including In Gaza

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi after accompanying President Jokowi to receive a Grand Syekh Al Azhar Ahmed Al Tayeb visit at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Tuesday (9/7/2024). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) received an honorary visit from the Grand Syekh of Al-Azhar University as-Syarif, Cairo, Egypt, Ahmad Muhammad Ahmed Al Tayeb at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Tuesday 9 July

Accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Menlu) Retno Marsudi, the meeting discussed the issue of peace and tolerance, as well as strengthening the Indonesia-Egypt dialogue.

"Of course, the main goal of this visit is to continue to promote moderate Islam and dialogue interfaith," said the Foreign Minister after the meeting, confiscated by Antara.

Regarding Indonesia-Egypt relations, said Retno, the President said that Egypt had long been the goal of Indonesian student studies. 95 percent of Indonesian citizens living in Egypt are Indonesian students.

"Grand Syekh found that there were more than 13 thousand Indonesian students and he had never received complaints from Indonesian students. That means, he said the character of Indonesian students was good," he said.

Retno added that President Jokowi in the dialogue expressed his commitment to encourage the formation of a Markaz Tathwir or a development center for the Al Azhar branch in Indonesia.

The second issue that President Jokowi conveyed to Ahmed Al Tayeb, Rento said, was about the importance of peace and tolerance.

The President said that currently war and conflict are taking place in a number of parts of the world, including in Gaza, so it is important for the world community to continue to voice permanent weapons jams, facilitate access to humanitarian aid, and the importance of world peace.

"Grand Syekh agrees with the President's view that the war must end immediately and peace must be realized," he said.

To get to this, Grand Syekh Al Azhar encourages global unity and peace for the Palestinians, including the unity of Muslim countries.

"Mr. President said the call for peace from Grand Syekh would mean a lot to the Palestinians," said Retno.

The last thing that President Jokowi said, said Retno, was about the importance of strengthening interfaith dialogue to increase the value of tolerance and peace in order to prevent the proliferation of Phobia extremism and Islam.

"The president said Indonesia is a nation that is very pluralistic and tolerant of becoming the DNA of the Indonesian nation. The President explained about Pancasila, Bhineka Tunggal Ika, and from afar Indonesia continues to follow Al Azhar's role and reputation in encouraging tolerance and moderation," he said.