Negeri Sembilan- The opening of Al-Azhar University`s branch campus here would attract thousands of Muslim students from Southeast Asia and enhance Malaysia`s image to the world, said a representative of the university from Egypt, Dr Umar Abdullah Kamil.
The establishment of the branch campus outside the Middle East also marked the changing of the Al-Azhar mindset in its history of over 1,000 years since the beginning of its foundation during the reign of the Fatimiyyah dynasty, he said.
"Just like in Cairo, the branch campus will have a mosque and students` organisation. We have worked hard to make this come true and Alhamdulillah (God willing), we will succeed,” he told reporters after the ground-breaking ceremony for the branch campus at the Yayasan Sofa Negeri Sembilan Complex, near Kampung Bukit Sembilan, today.
He said the Al-Azhar university council planned to establish a smaller branch campus in Thailand in the future.
He is confident that due to Malaysia`s image and the Islamic development in this country, students from Indonesia, Thailand and India will prefer to futher their studies at Al-Azhar`s Rembau branch.
Rembau Al-Azhar, established in 975, currently has about 28,000 students, with about 7,000 of them coming from this region.
Asked why the university council chose Malaysia, Umar said: “You have a large Muslim population and the Malays are known among Arabs as having strong faith in the religion and follow the Sunnah Al Jamaah.” He hopes the branch campus will be a step for Al-Azhar to broaden its influence in the western world.
Meanwhile, Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said discussions between Al-Azhar, Yayasan Sofa and the Malaysian government were ongoing, including on the costs involved, and the size of the campus and student intake.
Negeri Sembilan Fatwa Council member Sheikh Muhammad Fuad Kamaludin said the branch campus would initially offer Syariah and Usuluddin degree courses.
Syariah court judge Mohd Shukor Sabudin said its establishment would be a most significant moment for Muslims in this region.
"We hope it will not only become the nerve centre for Islamic studies and intellectual discourses, but also a reference centre for Muslims with problems or questions relating to Islamic teachings and Islamic law.”
Source: www.nst.com.my (14 April 2008)