Zubair Qureshi
At a lively session of the ongoing Online Internship Programme (OIP), renowned Indonesian scholar DrDickySofjan from the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) Yogyakarta highlighted his country’s rich culture and diverse traditions including 700 psycholinguistic groups and over 400 local indigenous belief systems.
“Islam is the predominant religion, alongside Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Indonesia is not an Islamic state but has “Pancasila” (five principles) as its state ideology and philosophical basis, making it a diverse and multicultural country,” he added.
The topic of the OIP was “Contemporary Dynamics of Indonesia” and the participants discussed the contemporary challenges Muslims were facing in the ever growing multicultural world.
It also shed light on the issue of tolerance, pluralism, inclusion, Islamophobia and tendencies of extremism and how Muslims embrace the change and engage with people from various culture and with different world view under the guiding principles of Wasatiyah and Islamic universal values of Rahmatanlilalamin.
“As a religion of peace, the beauty of Islam is in its universal appeal for the entire mankind with its guiding principles of moderation in life and rejection of prejudices based on race, caste and creed” the guest speaker said while sharing his thoughts.
He emphasized the importance of respecting and appreciating various worldviews, stating that Muslims believe Prophet Muhammad is sent as a mercy and blessing to the Multiverse and that these teachings are relevant to contemporary contexts.
“The Islamic universal doctrine of Rahmatan Lil ‘Alamiin’s needs to be contextualized in the broader understanding that the world is moving towards a multicultural society with increasing diversity of world views becoming a reality” the speaker shared his insight.
Dr. DickySofjan also discussed how a homogenous country like Japan was becoming multicultural due to increasing acceptance of Islam, similar to the other changes occurring in the UK and USA in line with the growing multiculturalism.
He, while discussing the concepts of tolerance, pluralism and inclusion dismissing that they were creating misconception that all religions were the same explained that tolerance embraces differences and pluralism acknowledges that people’s experiences are influenced by their environment, upbringing, and ethnic identity. He also underlined the importance of inclusion in social interactions, politics, and economy, arguing that extreme views cause conflict. He cited examples of differences within Islam and other religions like Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. He said that the main challenge was engaging people who may be different in fundamental values, rituals, and practices arguing that studying religion and multiculturalism can help develop better understanding among people of different world views.
