MUHAMMADIYAH.OR.ID, JAKARTA – Chairperson of Muhammadiyah Syafiq Mughni expressed strong support for academic collaboration to address global challenges faced by Muslims.
Having a meeting with the Head of the Zheng He International Peace Forum (ZIPF) Dr. Haiyun Ma at the Muhammadiyah headquarter, Jakarta, on Friday, June 20, Syafiq mentioned that the collaboration offers chances for Muhammadiyah university members to be engaged in international forums.
“I am here with Dr. Haiyun Ma, who teaches at a university in the United States. We’re discussing plans for the Zheng He Forum, which brings together scholars to talk about issues affecting Muslims, including those in the Middle East and China,” said Syafiq.
Syafiq called the forum both interesting and important, and revealed that Muhammadiyah is being considered as a host for the upcoming event. Possible venues include Muhammadiyah universities in Jakarta such as Universitas Muhammadiyah Prof. Dr Hamka (Uhamka) and Universitas Muhammadiyah Jakarta (UMJ) or in Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM).
“We are exploring the possibility of hosting the forum at one of our universities, and Professor Hai Yun Ma is working to connect directly with the university leaders,” explained Syafiq,
Syafiq also noted that Muhammadiyah and the Zheng He Forum had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) several months ago.
“We’ve been invited to join several international forums organized by the Zheng He Forum in different countries. These experiences were very insightful, often introducing topics which we hadn’t previously focused on, but which are important for the Muslim world and for Muhammadiyah as well,” added Syafiq.