Italy – The General Chairman of Muhammadiyah Central Executive, Din Syamsuddin, was in Italy again after becoming the keynote speaker for Pointificial Academy of Science, Vatican, on last Sunday (04/28/2015). Din Syamsuddin was re-invited as the keynote speaker in a seminar held at Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies, European University, Florence, Italy (05/04/2015) and he presented a paper on a session about “The Limits and Challenges of Secularism: The Roles of Faith-based Diplomacy and Mediation”.
The seminar that was held by the Study Center that became the center for Uni Europe philosophers meant to calculate the effectivenessand the influence of religious approach in diplomacyand mediation of global conflict. Din Syamsuddin was asked to explain the role of Muhammadiyah as the member of International Contact Group (ICG) for a peace treaty discussion between the government of Philippines and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). For one of the most popular Study Center in Europe, the role of Muhammadiyah was considered significant and could become the model of diplomacy and mediation based on religious approach.
Din Syamsuddin in his presentation did not only provide information in the role of Muhammadiyah in the peace treaty process in Mindanao, but also giving analysis and the reflection of characteristics, effectiveness, and the prospect of religious approach in political field and international diplomacy. According to him among the additional points of religious approach was involving parties outside statesmen and focusing on the moral message and religious ethics for peace.
The discussant of Din Syamsuddin’s presentation, Nawab Usman from Rajaratnam School of Government, Singapore, gave his highest appreciation of Muhammadiyah which he considered as moderate and modern, as well as proactive in the world peace and humanity activities. Nawab believed that Muhammadiyah had high credibility to become the world peace agent and an agent of change. The credibility emerged from the grandeur, experience, and human resources, as well as the ethical values for development it possessed. As the result, Muhammadiyah had huge responsibility of becoming the problem solver for human civilization.
If before going to Italy Din Syamsuddin stayed for two days in East Java (Sidoarjo and Bojonegoro), then after he returned from Italy, the General Chairman of PP Muhammadiyah was scheduled to stay in Central Java, which was Wonogiri, for the next day and continued to visit Medan, Pekanbaru, and Denpasar. They all were for the sake of the consolidation for Muhammadiyah movement. [mnw/dha]