Islamic Religious Advisor of the British Empire Visits Muhammadiyah’s Office in Jakarta

Jakarta, MINA – Muhammadiyah Central Executive received a visit by Imam Asim Hafiz, Islamic Religious Advisor to Chief of the Defense Staff and Service Chiefs, from the United Kingdom.

As quoted from the Muhammadiyah.or.id page on Tuesday, in England, Imam Hasim is known as a Muslim scholar as well as the first and only Muslim to hold this position.

This visit is the second time after 2017.

Imam Hasim was accompanied by British Embassy staff, including Col Paul R, Sgt Wazeeha Laher, Natasha Permatasari, and Political Officer, Ramon Sevilla.

The guests were welcomed by the Chairman of PP Muhammadiyah, Syafiq A. Mughni.

Syafiq said that this meeting discussed public issues that are happening in the global world, from education to climate change.

Imam Hasim also shared his experiences on how Muslims in the UK respond to sensitive issues. In this context, according to him, Muhammadiyah’s Progressive Islam view is potential enough to be explored.

“They also want to know the concept of Progressive Islam and how far this concept is relevant to the global context, including British society. So earlier there was an agreement that we would conduct an initial webinar program between Muhammadiyah thinkers and British thinkers to talk about contemporary issues, only then would other programs be continued,” he said.

Muhammadiyah itself in the global context, said Syafiq, is very open and has a big commitment to building a peaceful and civilized world, as the golden age of Islam had done before. According to him, what was conveyed by Imam Hasim caught the attention of Muhammadiyah.

“We are part of the world community, so we need to work together in many ways to solve problems faced by humanity in this world so that we don’t think exclusively for our nation, but we also think for the international community,” he said.

Meanwhile, Imam Hasim Hafiz said his visit to PP Muhammadiyah was to learn how Muslim organizations should act broadly in the context of the modern world.

“Muhammadiyah is a very important organization, because Muhammadiyah has a major role in exploring what Islam means in the 21st century. And for me this visit is an opportunity to study their work, learn the breadth of development fields they have, and see how we can collaborate on important issues,” he explained.

As an Imam and adviser in the military, Imam Hasim also shares his views on how Muslims combine nationalism and Islamic orders to love the motherland. Regarding the issue of environmental sustainability and equality, according to him, there are many things that can be extracted from the Koran and Hadith.

“We also talked a lot about the training of Imams, the training of scholars and the various ways that we can improve so that how they can do charity is relevant in the modern world. And how to advance as well as ensure a way to encourage Muslims to think positively about how Islam is practiced today,” he added.

Having served in Afghanistan in support of peacebuilding, stabilization, and conflict resolution tasks in 2010 and 2012, Imam Hasim Hafiz was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) award from the United Kingdom in 2014.

“My hope is that through this visit we can strengthen friendship with Islamic organizations in Indonesia and have a common understanding that we can build and strengthen Muslim relations in Indonesia and in the UK,” concluded Imam Hasim. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)