EN.MUHAMMADIYAH.OR.ID, JAKARTA – The Central Board of Muhammadiyah received a visit from Yemeni Islamic scholar Habib Umar bin Hafiz at its Jakarta office on Monday (12/10).
The meeting explored opportunities for religious cooperation, efforts to strengthen Muslim unity, and support for the education of Palestinian children.
Habib Umar was welcomed by Anwar Abbas, Chairperson of the Muhammadiyah Central Board, alongside several leaders of the board’s councils.
The visit provided an opportunity to strengthen ties between Muhammadiyah and Darul Mustafa, an Islamic educational institution based in Yemen.
Anwar expressed his pleasure at Habib Umar’s visit. He hoped the meeting would mark the beginning of broader cooperation between Muhammadiyah and Darul Mustafa.
“During our dialogue, I realized that he was already familiar with Muhammadiyah. This is something we should be grateful for,” Anwar said.
He explained that Habib Umar had told him this was his first visit to Muhammadiyah. Anwar therefore hoped the meeting could lead to various joint programs, including a planned visit by Muhammadiyah representatives to Yemen.
According to Anwar, cooperation could focus on scholarship and religious affairs, particularly efforts to promote Islamic values that benefit human progress and humanity as a whole.
“As he is a religious scholar, our cooperation will naturally focus on scholarship and religious affairs,” he said.
Cooperation for Palestine and Gaza’s Children
Beyond religious cooperation, the meeting also addressed the shared concern of Muhammadiyah and Habib Umar for people in Palestine and Sudan, particularly children in Gaza.
Anwar said Habib Umar’s son, who also attended the meeting, had expressed hope that Muhammadiyah would help children in Gaza, especially in the field of education.
“Perhaps we can develop this idea through a webinar bringing together Muhammadiyah, Darul Mustafa, and children from Gaza. During the webinar, we could discuss religion and the future,” Anwar explained.
In addition to this proposal, Habib Umar’s delegation presented two potential areas of cooperation with Muhammadiyah. These are support for Qur’anic study circles at Al-Aqsa Mosque and the development of online education for students and university learners in Gaza.
The Qur’anic study circle program presented during the meeting operates under the Waqf Al-Mustafa. According to the delegation, it aims to facilitate 12,000 complete readings of the Qur’an each month. The program also involves residents of Jerusalem who receive financial assistance to help meet their living expenses.
Muhammadiyah was offered the opportunity to support one or more study circles through sponsorship or waqf, an Islamic endowment. Such support is expected to sustain religious activities while strengthening the social resilience of local communities.
Meanwhile, the proposed online education program aims to help Palestinian school and university students who have lost access to education because of the war. The delegation said the initiative was being planned in cooperation with institutions and universities in Jordan.
These potential collaborations still require further discussion and follow up between the institutions, including the development of implementation mechanisms, funding arrangements, and program oversight. (Taufik Hidayat)
