AICIS 2018: Academic Forum and Religious Social Problem Solution

Palu, UIN NEWS Online – The 18th International Conference on Islamic Studies or the 18th Annual International Conference on Islamic Studies (AICIS) is expected to be a place for exchanging the ideas of academics from both Islamic Religious Universities (PTKI) and world universities. The conference is also expected to present an academic world solution to various issues of social and religious life in the Islamic world.

This was conveyed by the Minister of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia, Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, when opening AICIS 2018 at the Auditorium of Mercure Hotel, Palu, Central Sulawesi, Tuesday (09/18/2018). According to him, AICIS is one of the platform for the PTKI researchers to discuss their research on various social Islamic phenomena from an academic point of view.

For this reason, Lukman hopes that the AICIS activities will continue in the coming years by involving more participants from various PTKIs in the country as well as world researchers who focus their research on Islam, especially Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

Lukman also reminded that the AICIS forum was also able to present an academic world solution to various social religious issues of the people. One of them is strengthening religious attitudes that disrupt religious harmony.

"We should not be iy towers that are too busy with research or discussions that are only useful for our own person or campus", he said.

Lukman added, there are many recent socio-religious cases that require a response based on empirical analysis. He pointed out that there were still cases involving the religious life of majority-minority groups, the tendency of religious attitudes which were not supported by adequate religious scientific literacy, to cases of violence, radicalism and terror in the name of religion.

It is known that the Indonesian Ministry of Religion through the Directorate of Islamic Higher Education held the 18th AICIS. Taking the theme of Islam in a Globalizing World: Text, Knowledge and Practice, the AICIS forum invited 1700 Islamic scholars from the local and world universities.

In this forum a number of important discussions were held with a number of expert speakers on the latest Islamic social phenomena, both at local and global levels. In the warming discussion session of The Current Development of Islamic Studies for example, AICIS presented a discussion session with a number of professors such as Prof. Dr. Amin Abdillah, Prof. Dr. Oman Fathurrahman, Prof. Dr. Machasin, and Dr. Amelia Fauzia.

Along with the opening, AICIS also held five panel discussions. In addition to Islam and World Globalization, the panel discussion was filled with discussion sessions on the Development of Contemporary Islamic Studies in Indonesia and Iran, the Latest Development of Islam in Southeast Asia, the Dynamics of Islamic Studies in the Middle East, and the Role of Religious Institutions in Fighting Radicalism.

The panel discussion itself presented a number of expert speakers. Among them, Anthropologists from the German Max Plank Institute Dominik M. Muller, Professor of Albert Ludwiw Universitat, Freiburg, Germany Prof. Hans Christian Gunther, Professor from Tehran University Iran Prof. Hakimolahi, General Chairperson of PB Al-Khairaat KH Habib Ali al-Jufri, Director of CRCS UGM Yogyakarta Dr. Zainal Abidin Bagir, and Lecturer at UIN Jakarta Dr. Syafiq Hasyim.

Meanwhile, Director General of Islamic Education Prof. Dr. Kamaruddin Amin added, the AICIS forum also facilitated 300 selected papers to be presented in the discussion session on the third day. These 300 papers are divided into a number of sub-themes carrying the main theme of AICIS. (usa)