Indonesian Vice President receives secretary general of Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace

Indonesian Vice President receives secretary general of Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace.

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin received secretary general of the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace, Al-Mahfouz bin Bayyah, at his official residence in Jakarta on Friday.

According to a statement issued the same day, during the meeting, Al-Mahfouz invited the Vice President to attend the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace, which will be held in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (PEA), in December 2022.

He said the forum would be attended by around 500 invitees and 40 international organizations, who will jointly discuss steps to achieve world peace, including issues related to Islamic society and social affairs.

“Our visit is a directive from the leader of the United Arab Emirates to meet with the Vice President in order to follow up on the President’s visit to Abu Dhabi, (and) in order to increase cooperation between the two countries, especially in terms of improving education and equality of views in the international and religious worlds,” Al-Mahfouz informed.

The Vice President said that he was honored by the invite and expressed his willingness to attend the forum.

According to Amin, Indonesia and Abu Dhabi have a common vision for peace and tolerance amid diversity.

“I express my gratitude for the visit of Sheikh Mahfouz Al-Bayyah. Hopefully, this meeting can provide many benefits for Muslims in various parts of the world, especially in promoting moderate Islam,” he said.

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The Indonesian government has also launched a similar initiative in the form of the International Conference of Islamic Scholars (ICIS) to spread moderate Indonesian Islam together with world scholars, he added.

“Indonesia has also established the Indonesian International Islamic University (IIIU), among other things, in the context of promoting moderate Islam,” he said.

The Vice President then highlighted Indonesia’s experience in realizing a harmonious life through four frames.

“The first is the political frame, namely through strengthening the insight into the life of the nation and state through a national agreement consisting of Pancasila as the basis of the state, the 1945 Constitution, and also the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia,” he said.

The second frame is a sociocultural frame involving the development of local wisdom that supports a culture of peace, tolerance, and harmony throughout Indonesia, he added.

“The third is the juridical frame involving the strengthening of the regulation of religious life, law enforcement, and also mediation through the Religious Harmony Forum,” he said.

The fourth frame is in the form of a theological frame of harmony for mutual respect between religious communities, which can be developed by increasing public understanding of Islam that is rahmatan lil ‘alamin (a mercy to all creation) as a blessing for the entire nation, he added.