Azyumardi Azra Dies, Anwas Abbas Calls RI Losing Classy Sciences

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Muhammadiyah Central Executive Anwar Abbas remembers the Chairman of the Press Council Prof. Azyumardi Azra as a classy scientist, both on a national scale and the international community.

"He (Azyumardi) is very often invited as a speaker at scientific forums not only domestically, but also at various well-known foreign forums and campuses," Anwar said as quoted by ANTARA, Sunday, September 18.

Chairman of the Press Council Prof. Azyumardi Azra died at Serdang Hospital, Selangor, Malaysia, Sunday, at 12.30 local time.

According to Anwar, Azyumardi's sudden departure surprised all parties, because a few days ago he was still actively sending messages in WhatsApp chat groups.

Azyumardi left for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to attend the seminar which was also attended by Anwar Ibrahim, one of the foreign political figures in the neighboring country.

Azyumardi's departure, said Anwar, left a sense of loss for a figure who has very respected views and is widely used as a reference.

"It can even be said that there are no figures and world scholars who make Indonesia the object of their study who do not know him," he also said.

The deputy chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) also said that the grief over the departure of Azyumardi was also felt by the State Islamic University (UIN) of Jakarta, considering his services in advancing and raising the campus, which used to be named IAIN.

Azyumardi was able to change the face of UIN Jakarta, succeeded in growing academic and scientific culture among lecturers as well as students, as well as making UIN Jakarta a prestigious university not only known in the country, but also the international community, especially those interested in Islamic studies.

In addition, said Anwar, because of Azyumardi's services and reputation as the only person in Indonesia, maybe even in Asia who won Sir's honorary title from the British Empire.

Azyumardi is also known as a figure from West Sumatra who encourages the holding of the Minangkabau Culture Congress which will be held later this year.

"We hope that Allah SWT will forgive all his sins and make everything he has done a service for him, so that later he will be put by God into the Janatun naim paradise which is the dream of all of us. Amen," said Anwar.