By Haslina Ibrahim and Mohd Zulfahmi Mohamad
An International Postgraduate Colloquium and Research Poster Competition was recently held from 15 to 17 June 2021 which brought together graduate students from the Asian universities in enriching discourses that stimulated discussion on the importance of research in Islamic and humanities studies and making them relevance to the contemporary and future needs of the society.
The Colloquium was organised by the Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (KIRKHS) in collaboration with University of Sultan Azlan Shah (USAS) and Asian Islamic University Association (AIUA).
Since the Colloquium had received generous funding from USAS and Centre for Postgraduate Studies IIUM, it was able to offer diverse nature of agenda during the three-day programme that benefitted the graduates ranging from intellectual discourse, research training skill, motivational talk and research presentation competition.
The guiding theme of the Colloquium Instilling the Spirit of Excellence for Impactful Research was deliberated in three keynote speeches.
The first keynote speech was by the Dean of KIRKHS, Prof. Dr. Shukran Abdul Rahman titled Relevantizing Knowledge in the New Zeitgeist. He aspired that the academic work and research conducted by academics, students and researchers should be varied band yet holistic in nature. They should be embedded by integrated approach, input and values, that they achieve the merit to be shared with others.
The second keynote speaker was the Deputy Vice Chancellor of USAS, Prof. Dato Dr. Wan Sabri Wan Yusoff who spoke on Researchers and Society: Between Elite and Public Intellectuals. He called for Muslim researchers to recover and rediscover the Muslims intellectual heritage in order to understand and solve contemporary human problems so they can play the role as public intellectuals.
The third keynote speech titled Al-Bahithun al-Muslimun al-Akthar Atharan: Dalil Malmusun min al-˜Alam al-Islamiy was delivered by Professor Dr. Ibrahim Zein who is currently serving as a professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. He expounded role model researchers in the course of Muslims history and their impactful contribution in the contemporary intellectual tradition of Islam in the area of humanities studies, psychology and laws.
The Colloquium had also included research skill trainings offered by experienced trainers and researchers. The trainings imparted on the graduates the techniques of citation for literature review and on referencing tools. The trainings were offered in two languages, English and Arabic, to meet the needs of the graduates. There was also motivational session which recorded the most attended session in the Colloquium.
Another dynamic session prepared for the Colloquium was the Research Presentation and Poster Competition which received more than sixty applications from IIUM, USAS, UKM, KIAS, UIN Banjarmasin, Prince of Songkla University from which fifty-two were selected by the Academic Committee. There were three language categories of competition which were English, Malay and Arabic. Top three winners for each category were selected and the remaining participants were presented with consolation prizes.
Among the winners of the competition were:
Malay Category:
First Prize: Mohamad Rizal Bin Mohamed Nor (USAS)
Elemen Al-Hilah Dalam Produk Kewangan Berasaskan Akad Al-Tawarruq
Second Prize: Nagaraja Palaniappan (USAS)
Pengaruh Kepimpinan Kepimpinan Distributif Guru Besar Terhadap Peningkatan Tahap Komitmen Dan Kepuasan Kerja Guru Di Sekolah Rendah
Third Prize: Aina Fatini Binti Mohd Safian (USAS)
Kajian Pembangunan Modul Peningkatan Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Jawi Temiar bagi Pelajar Tahun 1 Sekolah Murid Orang Asli Daerah Kuala Kangsar
English Category:
First Prize: Baidruel Hairiel Abd Rahim (IIUM)
Promoting Sustainable Sports Legacy in Goalball: A Lifelong Learning Platform for Student-Athletes With Visual Impairment
Second Prize: Mohamed Shafeen Mohamed Ashath (IIUM)
Peaceful Coexistence Through the Concepts of Brahmaviharas of Buddhism and Maqasid al-Shari’a of Islam: A Textual Analysis
Third Prize: Nurul Miza Mohd Rashid (IIUM)
Examining the Effect of News Media Coverage on the Syrian Civil War towards Radical Extremist Mindset among Malay Muslims
Arabic Category:
First Prize: Mashitah Johan (USAS)
Zakat al-Rawatib wa al-Ujur: Dirasah Fiqhiyyah Tasiliyyah wa Tatbiqihi bi Maliziya Namuzajan
Second Prize: Mahdi Adam (Prince of Songkla University Thailand)
Istikhdam Tobaqat al-Isyarat al-MarjiIyyah li muzamanati al-Muhtawa ala Sifat al-Mashaf, Mashaf al-˜Uthmani Anmuzajan
Third Prize: Nur Farhana Mohamad Zainol (IIUM)
˜Adab al-Sujun ˜inda Tawfiq Ziyad: Qasidah Samar min al-Sijni Anmuzajan
The Colloquium concluded with a commitment from the three institutions to make the event an annual one in future and to increase more participation from the Asian universities.
Indeed, the Colloquium would augment for more collaborative initiatives that involve faculties of Islamic studies and humanities studies in this region which will become a milestone in the research endeavour and intellectual discourse among its academic members and graduates.***
(Assoc. Prof. Dr. Haslina Ibrahim is the Deputy Dean, Responsible Research and Innovation, KIRKHS, and an academic in the Department of Usuluddin and Comparative Religion)