Lyna Mohamad
Renowned Indonesian religious speaker Professor Dr Ustaz Haji Abdul Somad Batubara, who is currently in the Sultanate made an appearance at the Conference Hall of the Islamic Da’wah Centre (PDI), Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) as the guest religious speaker at the Multaqa Da’ie programme yesterday.
He shared experiences and guidelines on empowering and strengthening dakwah effectively and the importance of a Da’ie to look after their ablution before and after delivering a religious talk to the public as well as the need to plan what is to be delivered to the audience and not to simply deliver talks without appropriate references.
Organised by the Dakwah Propagation Division, the event serves as an initiative to answer the call made by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam in a titah during an unscheduled visit to the centre last year.
In the titah, the monarch highlighted that the upcoming methodology and studies include interviewing Da’ie who have been identified as high calibre locally or abroad and getting them to share their experiences and ways on how to deliver effective preaching and what are the necessary recipes for that purpose.
Minister of Religious Affairs Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji Awang Othman, was the guest of honour at the event.
Multaqa Da’ie began with the recitation of Sayyidul Istighfar and Surah Al-Fatihah followed by a Doa Selamat by PDI Religious Education Officer Haji Badaruddin bin Haji Basar. The event proceeded with welcoming remarks from PDI Director Haji Abdul Rajid bin Haji Mohd Salleh after which Professor Dr Ustaz Haji Abdul Somad began his talk on ‘Memperkasa Da’ie Berkaliber Mercu Kejayaan Ummah Berkualiti’.
The programme is a support activity to achieve strategic objectives in PDI’s strategic plan to achieve Brunei Vision 2035, among them is spreading of dakwah and Islamic teachings widely to increase the number of authoritative Da’ie.
One of the objectives of the programme is to serve as a platform for Da’ie to meet religious scholars and take the opportunity to gain knowledge while strengthening the credibility of PDI officers, particularly in delivering lectures, as well as boosting the spirit of Da’ie in the country to face the current challenges of disseminating dakwah.
Participants of the programme were made up of PDI officers and officers from MoRA, PDI religious speakers, accredited Da’ie under the Brunei Islamic Religious Council (MUIB) and youth from the Youth Religious Programme, MoRA.
The programme is hoped to benefit and upgrade the quality of religious talk of the participants involved and with dakwah, the country will advance further in alignment with current needs.
Meanwhile, also in attendance at the talk were Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Pengiran Dato Seri Paduka Haji Mohd Tashim bin Pengiran Haji Hassan and Deputy State Mufti Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Japar bin Haji Mat Dain @ Maidin.
Professor Dr Ustaz Haji Abdul Somad Batubara has been specially flown to Brunei by An Nafii Co to attend religious talk invites at several institutions in the Sultanate.
