Ministry Of Religion: Damaging Terrorism Through Religious Moderation In The Islamic World

Portrait of the Expert Staff of the Minister of Religion in the field of Law and Human Rights Abu Rokhmad received by ANTARA in Jakarta on Saturday (14/5/2022). (ANTARA/HO-Kemenag)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) invites the world to stem terrorism and extremism through its priority program, namely strengthening religious moderation in the Islamic world.

"To overcome and stem religious extremism, the Indonesian government has issued a policy to strengthen religious moderation," said the Expert Staff of the Minister of Religion for Law and Human Rights Abu Rokhmad in a written statement quoted by Antara, Saturday, May 14.

The policies made have the aim of moderating extreme religious beliefs, attitudes and actions, both extreme right and extreme left.

Rokhmad said there are four important indicators in religious moderation, namely being tolerant of diversity, national commitment, non-violence and friendly to local culture.

According to him, to realize the unity of Muslims, it is necessary to build an awareness of the diversity and differences among human beings.

"Through religious moderation, Muslims around the world can more easily realize Islamic unity," he said.

The chairman of The World Muslim Communities Council, Ali Rasyid al-Nuaimi, stated that Islamic unity is the most important thing that dominates the minds of Muslims today.

Initially, Islamic unity in the modern era was an intellectual issue that inspired the Islamic world to break away from colonialism.

“After colonialism, the Islamic world underwent various fundamental changes in the social, political and intellectual fields as well as the birth of political parties that adopted Islam, making the concept of Islamic unity less clear. This conference will discuss the reality of Islamic unity from various angles and all the challenges it faces,” said al-Nuaimi.

The meeting of experts was held at the International Conference by The World Muslim Communities Council (al-Majlis al-'Alami li al-Mujtama'at al-Muslimah) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 8 to 9 May 2022.

In addition to the Ministers of Religion, this conference also invited many Muslim figures and scholars from all over the world. Meanwhile, the topics discussed at the meeting were related to Islamic unity, namely concepts, opportunities and challenges (Islamic Unity: Concepts, Opportunities and Challenges).