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Indonesia could be role model of world’s multiculturalism and tolerance: New York mosque imam
Senin, 3 Juli 2017 | 11:24 WIB
Jakarta, NU Online
The Director of Jamaica Muslim Center, New York, Shamsi Ali, stated, Indonesia has credibility and potency to be role model for the world in the multiculturalism and tolerance sectors.
The Grand Imam of Al Hikmah Mosque New York added, tolerance has been ingrained in Indonesian people life. History has recorded the Indonesian multiculturalism with the existence of Borobudur and Prambanan Temples as Hindhu and Buddha’s heritences in the biggest Muslim country in the world.
“We need to show the good from this nation that we are the biggest Muslim nation but (we) still uphold democracy values,” he said after attending 4th Congress of Indonesian Diaspora in Jakarta, Saturday (1/7).
Although Indonesia faces the various cases of harmony and inter-religious relationship, Shamsi believes the optimistic attitude to weave diversity will make Indonesia bigger in the future.
The first step to keep peace in diversity is by appreciating that diversity in language, color, and religion is God destiny or “sunnatullah.”
He argued that willingness of receiving and appreciating diversity in this life is a part of faith. Besides that, he stressed dialogue among each religion addherents should be held to build the spirit of harmony among them. The majority and minority must complete and not to be enemy each other.
“For example we are Muslim and become minority in America, we socialize with Jews and Cristian so that they have sense of confidence that we are not their enemy,” he explained.
The Director of Vatican Inter-religious Dialogue for Asia, Romo Markus Solo Kewuta SVD, had the same opinion. He believed that Indonesia could maintain peace. It has chosen him as one of Pope Benediktus XVI’s advisers, 10 years ago.
“In that time, Pope said that the presence of me in Vatikan because they are interested in Indonesia, especially after observing that people from different religion and background be able to live together with peace,” he said.
Romo Markus believed that Indonesia is the nation which love harmony and appreciate among another. In Javanese term, it called “tepa selira.”
“We uphold tepa selira value (love harmony and appreciate among another). That spirit never loses, we only need to turn on it again,” Romo Markus said. (Antara/Fathoni)
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