Komaruddin Hidayat: Diversity is God’s Design

PPIM.UINJKT.AC.ID – “Quran has clearly stipulated that diversity, in terms of languages, gender, religions, and so on, is a God’s design,” Komaruddin Hidayat, Rector of Indonesia International Islamic University (UIII) said on Friday (26/6). He also emphasized that Islam did not teach Muslims to force other people to follow their path, because that would never make them pious. 

He was speaking in a virtual seminar series of #ModerasiBeragama (Religious Moderation) themed “Religious Moderation as Religious Tradition in Indonesia”, that was organized by the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta through Convey Indonesia program.

The seminar ran perfectly with the presentations from several religious experts invited as speakers. Professor I Gusti Ngurah Sudana, Rector of the Hindu Dharma Institute State Institute (IHDN), for example, said that “Vedic Book describes that being brothers and sisters is a norm. In fact, all of us are brothers.” In Bali, he said, people adopted such a value to maintain religious harmony. 

Dr. Agusthina Christina Kokiay, Rector of the Christian State Univeristy (IAKN) in Ambon, said that “Bible also explains about responsibility and obligation to create peace, because peace is the main evidence of a blessed nation.”

Meanwhile, Krist Tan, a young Konghucu (Confucians), was of the opinion that “according to Yin and Yang theological concepts, diversity is undeniable. Our main project as humans, in Confucian teaching, is to build up ourselves,”

All speakers agreed that people should preserve the diversity and maintain it in the framework of Indonesian characters.

Writer: Aziz Awaludin
Editor: M. Nida Fadlan