Zamboanga City stood as one of the host venues for the Da’wah Tour to Philippines with the theme “Uniting Hearts”. The Muslim scholars belong to the Majlis Al-Muwasala Baynal Ulamail Muslimin from Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. The visit to the Philippines was spearheaded by Erth Ul Mustafa Philippines Inc. It was a three-city Da’wah Tour: Manila, Tawi-Tawi, and Zamboanga City.
Their visit to Zamboanga was organized by the Ateneo Peace Institute. The four Muslim Scholars were: Habib Sholeh Al Jufri, member of Majlis Muasolah Ulama’ International from Indonesia; Dr Yusri Mohammad, chairman of Islamic Dakwah Foundation in Yadim, Malaysia; Shaykh Imran Anguillia Al Hafidz, International Dakwah Figure from Singapore; and Sheikh Ahmad Shaif Imbing, director of Madrasah Darul Mukhdumeen. Imbing is a high school graduate of Ateneo de Zamboanga in 1997.
A thanksgiving lunch at the Sauras Function room on February 12 welcomed the Muslim Scholars and their companions. Present during lunch were Fr President Karel San Juan SJ, Academic Vice President Fr Louie Catalan SJ, VP for Administration Fr Richard Ella SJ, SHS Chaplain Fr Koko Parilla SJ, Ms Anita Tagadiad for School of Education, SHS Principal Rey Reyes, Nursing Dean Lorna Paber, HRADO Director Engr Aldrina Hitalia, MSA Moderator Mohammad Nur Kadil, and members of the AdZU Social Development Team led by Assistant to the President for Social Development, John Mayo Enriquez. This was preceded by a short program where Fr Karel expressed the importance of this conversation and asked the group to consider coming back to Zamboanga. The Scholars expressed gratitude to AdZU for the warm welcome and voiced their hope of nurturing this friendship with the University.
Uniting Hearts
The Uniting Hearts: Conversations for Convergence & Solidarity was held at the Royce Convention Center, Grand Astoria Hotel last February 13, 2018. The conversation was divided into two sessions.
The morning session was meant for the student youth. Other than members of the AdZU community, participants also came from the following partner schools: Islamic Institute of the Philippines, Filipino–Turkish Tolerance High School, and J-Jireh School, as well as the students from the Madrasah Darul Mukhdumeen.
The theme for the morning session moved along the significance of religious education in Islam, the role of the family as taught by Prophet Muhammad (SAW), and interfaith dialogue as a way to promote harmonious coexistence.
In the afternoon, professionals group from the civil society made up the the participants. The issues discussed were: Jihad in Islam, the role of the academe in countering violent extremism, and connecting link between Muslims and Christians.
The AdZU Peace Institute brought the scholars for a courtesy visit to the mayor of the city after the event. The Mayor expressed gratitude for the presence of the Muslim scholars and her desire to learn the best practices of Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia in handling multi-diverse communities. Knowing these good practices she said, may boost the way of proceedings of a multi-diverse city like Zamboanga.-Hasmina Alfad, UCO Intern
