PKM UB in collaboration with the Compartment of Islamic Law, Faculty of Law held an international dialogue themed “Reinterpreting Religious Messages and Interfaith Dialogue in the Midst of the Global Humanitarian Crisis” organized by the Center for Character and Diversity Studies (CCDS) UPT, Monday (7/15/2024), at the Auditorium, 10th Floor, UB Joint Service Building.
Present as a resource person was Muhamad Ali, Assistant Professor from the University of California Riverside, America. In addition, this event also invited lecturers from UPT PKM UB, Dr. Nur Chanifah, M.Pd.I as the speaker, and M. Khamim, M.Pd as the moderator. This activity was attended by around 60 lecturers from UPT PKM UB who teach MKWK courses.
Prof. Muhamad Ali opened the dialogue with an interesting question, namely regarding “Can religion offer solutions to humanitarian problems, or is it actually the source of the problem itself?”.
According to Prof. Muhamad Ali, religion can provide alternative answers related to humanitarian crises, but it cannot do it alone, but must work hand in hand with other fields such as science and technology.
“Religion can be a way out of humanitarian tragedies, but not all humanitarian tragedies can be resolved by religion”. Because in any case, religion also has limitations,” said Prof. Muhamamad Ali.
Prof. Muhamad Ali added, to make religion relevant or functional, we must see religion as it is, in the sense of religion as a practice of life, not merely as something ideal. Thus, religion becomes something close to the real experience of everyday life, including humanitarian problems.
He explained about the various forms of global humanitarian crises that have occurred in the world. Prof. Muhamad Ali also highlighted several global humanitarian crises that have occurred recently, such as the refugee crisis, the humanitarian crisis in Palestine, to the environmental and ecological crises that have an impact on humanity.
In his material, Prof. Muhamad Ali also explained the role of religion in the post-pandemic era and several efforts that have been made by Muslim academics and religious figures such as Pope Francis and Grand Imam Ahmed Al-Tayyeb in overcoming the global humanitarian crisis, one of which is through religious dialogue.
According to him, because the problem is very complex and occurs widely, the role of all religions is needed, it cannot only rely on a particular religion. Good interfaith dialogue is especially when the parties who do it are willing to understand other religions, and especially if they have lived side by side with different religions.
“Interfaith dialogue is very necessary and possible if each religious adherent is willing and able to refrain from claiming absolute truth, especially in shared spaces,” he said.
After the presentation of the material, the event continued with a question and answer session between the speaker and the participants. This dialogue session took place lively, because several participants enthusiastically asked questions and responded critically to the presentation of the material by Prof. Muhamad Ali. (*/OKY/UB PR/ Trans. Iir).
