Vice President Will Follow Up on the Proposal to Construct another Indonesian Student Dormitory in Egypt

Kairo, wapresri.go.id – On the sidelines of a working visit in Cairo, Vice President KH Ma’ruf Amin had the opportunity to have a fruitful dialogue with Indonesian students who are studying in Egypt, at the Ambassador’s House of the Indonesian Embassy (KBRI) Cairo on Saturday night (05/11/2022) local time.

On this occasion, Muhammad Ikramurrahman Amin from the Indonesian Student and Student Association (PPMI) Egypt, proposed to add an Indonesian student dormitory in Egypt. It was needed because the existing dormitories were no longer able to accommodate a large number of Indonesian students in Egypt.

“There is indeed a dormitory that was built during the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), but it only has a capacity for 1,200 people. Meanwhile, the number of Indonesian students currently in Egypt is approximately 12,000 people. So with this, we hope that there will be another new Indonesian dormitory,” he hoped.

Moreover, said Ikramurrahman, the need for the construction of new dormitories for Indonesian students in Egypt was to protect and guard students from all criminal acts ranging from theft, and house rental fraud, to physical violence whose cases continued to increase every year.

“One of our obstacles as students here is the high level of crime that we feel, especially physical violence, house burglaries, house rental fraud, and all kinds of things,” he said.

Responding to the proposal, the Vice President promised to follow up with the Indonesian Ambassador in Egypt.

“I welcome the proposal regarding the dormitory. And later on, Mr. Ambassador, I ask the proposal be finalized, all rational considerations,” he asked.

If the construction of this dormitory was realized, continued the Vice President, he proposed to be named the current President of the Republic of Indonesia, namely Joko Widodo.

“Hopefully, I will convey this to Pak Jokowi so that this becomes serious attention. If only it could be built later, it would not be Ma’ruf Amin’s dormitory but Joko Widodo’s,” he said, greeted with applause from the students.

Furthermore, another student named Teja Wirahadikusuma from West Nusa Tenggara asked about the role and contribution of students, including how to strengthen the Islamic da’wah wasathiyah (moderate) in harmony with the life of the nation and state.

Answering this question, the Vice President explained that the main contribution of students was to be serious about studying so that they can graduate on time, then take part in various fields.

“And as for how to develop wasathiyah Islam, I ask you to try to make some kind of writing, according to students with many references to wasathiyah Islam and also about how Indonesia implements wasathiyah Islam,” he replied.

Finally, a student named Huna Ayu Rosyidah asked the Vice President about how to carry out the Islamic teachings of wasathiyah while maintaining a balance between worldly matters and the hereafter.

Regarding this question, the Vice President also answered that the key to carrying out the teachings of Islam wasathiyah was to have a sense of concern and not to be excessive in religion.

“In religion, you must not be negligent (tafrit), that is, you don’t care about religious issues, da’wah issues, don’t care. That’s tafrit. But not even ifrat, which is excessive to the point of forcing people, cursing people, his preaching is excessive,” he explained.

As exemplified by the ulama in the past, he continued, they were able to bring Islam into Indonesia in peace and without violence. This shows that Islam is a tolerant religion that is easily accepted by various groups.

“We have to keep that up until now that there is no violence in us building that religion from the past, until whenever. This is the wasathiyah Islam that we have built,” he said.

Likewise in world affairs, said the Vice President, the application of the Islamic teachings of Wasathiyah can be demonstrated, for example, through helping out in goodness regardless of their religious background.

“We, who are Muslims, assist non-Muslims, we will still get a reward,” he concluded. (DMA/LHS-BPMI Setwapres)