The Malay Muslim community in Southeast Asia can shift the position of the Arab community in the Middle East as the face of Islam in the world. The application of Islam by the Malay community is considered more reflective of moderate and tolerant Islam than in the Middle East which tends to be black and white.
"The Malay community is much more capable of presenting a true Islam rahmatan lil'alamin "This is what the international world needs to see so that the Western view of Islam can be eroded," said Chairman of Baitul Muslimin Indonesia (Bamusi) Hamka Haq on the sidelines of the International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates. Moderate Muslims, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, yesterday.
The event which was initiated by Malaysian Prime Minister M Najib Razak was attended by around 750 participants from 75 Asian, European, American and African countries.
From Indonesia, apart from Hamka Haq, attending as participants included the Chairman of PP Muhammadiyah Din Syamsuddin, Chairman of PBNU Masdar F. Mas'udi, former Vice President Jusuf Kalla, and a member of Commission I DPR who is also Deputy Chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Agency (BKSAP ) DPR M. Najib.
Hamka said that the international forum held by the Islamic community is very important and relevant to the continuing movement of democracy.
A moderate and tolerant Islam, he said, will always be able to go hand in hand with a democracy that the West often contests with. A similar view was conveyed by M Najib. He saw several sides in this forum, among them, the Malay community in the Southeast Asia region was quite large, exceeding the Arab community in the Middle East.
In addition, the Malay community has its own history of practicing a moderate and tolerant Islam.
"And this has not appeared on the surface or in the international arena for quite a while. The last time the Malay Islamic community came to the fore was when Mr. Habibie (former President BJ Habibie) led the ICMI which later aroused sympathy from Central, Europe, and Africa. But now ICMI is fading and the echo of Islam in Southeast Asia is also fading, "he said.
In fact, he said, the Malay community as the largest Islamic community should be morally responsible for appearing in the international world. (About Indonesia).*
