FUDA | Friday (12/05/2023) - The Research, Development and Training Agency of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia held a coordination meeting with the organizing committee of the Asian-African Conference on Religious Moderation in 2023. Participants of the KAA Religious Moderation coordination meeting came from various representatives of religious universities in Indonesia. Several UIN SMH Banten lecturers were selected to be meeting participants in organizing the KAA Religious Moderation.
Prof. Mufti Ali, M.A., P.hD., Dr. Aang Saeful Milah, M.A., and Dr. Lalu Turjiman Ahmad, M.A., are Lecturers of the Faculty of Ushuluddin and Adab who participated in the meeting as representatives of UIN SMH Banten. In addition, Dr. M. Nur Arifin, S.Ag., M.Pd., from the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training and Dr. Dede Permana, M.A. from the Faculty of Sharia were also invited as participants on Friday, May 12, 2023. The names of the participants of this meeting were assigned by the Rector of UIN SMH Banten to support the program of the Research and Development and Education Agency of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia in maturing the concept of KAA activities which will be held in September in Bandung. Prof. Dr. Wawan Wahyudin, M.Pd. (Rector of UIN SMH Banten) advised that this Asian-African Conference should not lose its spirit with the KAA in 1955, so as to give birth to ideas and movements for peace in the world.
The meeting in Semarang is the second coordination meeting held by the Research and Development and Training Agency of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. On April 18, the first coordination meeting of KAA Religious Moderation was held in Jakarta.
The coordination meeting of KAA Religious Moderation in Semarang was attended by Prof. Mufti Ali, M.A., P.hD., and Dr. Aang Saeful Milah, M.A., as representatives of UIN SMH Banten. Both departed for Semarang by air, with a travel time of 1 hour from Soeta Airport, Jakarta to Jend. Ahmad Yani Airport, Semarang. The coordination meeting took place at Novotel Hotel, Semarang which started at 17.00 WIB.
The maturation of the concept and theme of KAA Religious Moderation activities became the main topic in the coordination meeting of the committee this time. The coordination meeting was opened by Prof. Dr. Suyitno, M.Ag., (Head of the Research and Development and Education Agency of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia), then continued the meeting and discussion led by Prof. Dr. M. Arskal Salim GP, M.Ag. (Secretary of the Agency for Research, Development and Training of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia). FUDA lecturer, Dr. Aang Saeful Milah, M.A., conveyed some of his suggestions about the implementation of the Religious Moderation KAA in Bandung later.
“Please, prof., I would like to submit some suggestions as well as remind some of the things discussed at the previous meeting in Jakarta. First, during the KAA, we hope that there will be a short video showing about religious moderation in Indonesia. Because it is very important to be known by world leaders who are representatives of each country in the KAA later. Second, related to the theme of the article that we are discussing now, it should also be considered what articles written by each representative figure of several countries will be published in what journal. Because in the previous meeting, we have agreed to publish articles on the results of KAA activities later in the journal. We are worried that there will be no journal that can accommodate the articles whose themes we set now. Thus prof., thank you.” Said Dr. Aang Saeful Milah, M.A. in the discussion forum.
The activity continued until 21.00 WIB, then closed by the moderator of the meeting and ended with a group photo. It is planned that at the end of May, another meeting will be held in Bandung to finalize the preparation of the KAA Religious Moderation activities of the Indonesian Ministry of Religion in 2023.
