BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

UNIVERSITI Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA) held a public talk yesterday on the challenges and opportunities of Islam and religions in Southeast Asia with the aim to improve public knowledge on the existence of various religions in the region.

The talk was delivered by an invited speaker from the International Islamic University Malaysia, Professor Dr Ibrahim Md Zain.

The event saw the attendance of more than 40 scholars and officials from the UNISSA as well as Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD).

During the event, the speaker gave an overview of problems that Islam faces within this region, particularly Malaysia.

“One of the problems is the presence of abundance of sects that bias against the dynamic of the dominant religion.

“This may lead to the disagreement within the society as a whole.”

He said that in order to achieve the harmony, the distinction between dominant religions and their sects must be made.

“Due to the fact that Islam is a dominant religion in this region, it has the opportunities to foster cohesive cultural atmosphere for the whole region,” he added.

He also hoped that with the implementation of Syariah Law in the Sultanate could produce solidarity to the people of the state.

The event continued with a question and answer session revolving around the issue of Islam, other dominant religions, politics, drugs and so on.

The Brunei Times