HIS Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah ibni His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Deputy Sultan, yesterday morning received in audience the delegation of Ministers of Religious Affairs from Brunei Darussalam, Republic of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Republic of Singapore who are in the country to attend the 18th Informal Annual Meeting of the Ministers of Religious Affairs of Brunei Darussalam, the Republic of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Republic of Singapore (MABIMS) held in the capital yesterday.
The audience ceremony took place at Qashr Al-Meezaan.
His Royal Highness received in audience Minister of Religious Affairs Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji Awang Othman; Minister of Religious Affairs, Republic of Indonesia Bapak Lukman Hakim Saifuddin; Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid bin Yusof; and Minister for the Environment and Water Resources and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, Republic of Singapore Masagos Zulkifli bin Masagos Mohamad.
Also present were Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Pengiran Dato Seri Paduka Haji Bahrom bin Pengiran Haji Bahar, as well as senior officials from Brunei Darussalam, the Republic of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Republic of Singapore who also attended the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM).
MABIMS is a form of regional agreement carried out on a religious basis to safeguard the interests of Muslims without interfering with the political affairs of member states. MABIMS was established on August 7, 1989 and held its first meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan.
The theme for the 18th MABIMS Meeting is ‘Liberal Islam – Issues, Challenges and Preventive Efforts’.
The theme was chosen as the issues of liberalisation are becoming a threat to the understanding and the apperception of the Islamic community in the region who strongly abide to the Ahli Sunnah Wal-Jama’ah school of thoughts.
Liberal thoughts are easily assimilated into the minds of the people by instilling the understanding of Islam that are supposedly more open, and to call for the reinterpretation of the Quranic and Hadith texts with new understanding by using logical reasoning exclusively.
The theme aims to encourage MABIMS member states to look for approaches and to share member country experiences in facing as well as finding ways to curb liberal Islam.
The MABIMS Meeting was preceded by the Senior Officials Meeting which was held from November 12-14.