I would like to thank to the Community of Sant’Egidio for this occasion and opportunity to participate at this International Meeting of the Prayer for Peace.
It is a great opportunity for me personally and for the Indonesian Ulema Council, the organization which I represent as Vice President.
I feel that it is particularly important today to be gathered together to express this ( cry for peace ) and to face a future world that is experiencing more terror, many threats of war, and conflict, weather it happened in Moslem countries or in Russia and Ukraine recently.
We all feel that the weight and the gravity of the situation of this conflict, in a a particular way they feel it, and I think of the pain and the suffering of all of the people who have lost their lives in a senseless war, I think of the pain of so many women and children and the numerous victims of this useless war, but I think also of the senseless killing of so many civilians and military personnel.
I believe that each of us today is called to live on the front lines of the urgency for peace because:
1) The peace is not a tool that can be employed only by specialists, but it is a vocation of a peoples to peace where everyone is called to respond to and care for peace.
I feel that from our experience, dialogue is the only tool that puts us in a position to be able to build peace, As it is stated in the teachings of my religion, that when we face any problem of any magnitude, we must resolve it through dialogue and deliberation, the Quran says: (وشاور هم في الامر) And consult them in the matter, advice them on the matter.
And this dialogue is the experience of our meetings in the Spirit of Assisi since 1986 with Saint Pope John Paul II and faithfully continued by the Community of Sant’Egidio to open a great glimpse into the dark horizon that we are all living in, we are all here talking about peace, when everyone else is talking about war and vindication, defending borders from invasions , or arming ourselves with weapons.
To resist these situations, we can do everything such as solidarity among the people resisting it , when we are under bombardment, it just like a light at the end of the tunnel. I think that dialogue can help create the history that we need now to live in harmony among others.
2) The global world is currently on fire burning, because of many wars, conflicts between one nation within one country, between one nation and another, wars between one nation even though their religion is the same, and even conflicts with other religions.
From this situation some people see that the source of conflict even comes from the understanding of a religion.
That's why I personally think that starting from this dialogue, we make it clear that religious teachings must be able to become conflict solution and become problem solvers.
Because actually our responsibility as followers of religion is to spread a sense of peace, such as the views and doctrines of our religion.
3) The war is a road of no return. Violence is a road of no return. When a war begins, so many victims and wounds are created. There is no turning back for the dead .
What kind of a future can we build for our children? I believe that building a peace, investing in peace, is our way of building the basis of the future for our children.
4) Communities or organizations, play a great and important role, because the religions they follow give a hope which it is often as a dormant within the hearts of each man and each woman.
My experience as a Deputy Chair of Nahdlatul Ulama and today as the Deputy Chair of the Indonesian Ulema Council, always supports how the people can live in a harmony among others and peace.
For these reasons, Indonesian Ulema Council, support the holding of Religions 20 conference which will discuss the responsibility of Religion in overcoming the global crisis which will be held in conjunction with the G 20 meeting in Bali Indonesia. And International Dialogue among the Religion leaders which will be held in Jakarta on December 4-6, 2022 this year.
Today I come here with my brother Dr. Din Syamsudin, before he was also as General Chairman of Indonesian Ulama Council.
We need to live and build a single future for everyone. The theme that Sant’Egidio chose last years feels particularly appropriate to me. “Nobody is saved alone”, and today
more than ever we express this together, we express this “Cry for Peace” and Pray for Peace , as a community and as organizations, as a great human family represented here by the many cultural and religious diversities.
In conclusion let me pray :
اللهم انت السلام، ومنك السلام، واليك يعود السلام، فحينا ربنا بالسلام، وادخلنا جنة دار السلام.
Oh God, you are peace, and peace is from you, and peace returns to you, for our Lord greeted us with peace, and we entered the paradise of the abode of peace.
It is the path that brings us closer to God, as dialogue and friendship and solidarity find space in the lives of men and women to finally see the peace of God is in the hearts of every creature.
This is the road, this is the path, this is the right way to live the “Cry for Peace” and to Pray for Peace,
Thank you!