By Luqman Azmi
GOMBAK, 5 October 2021: Living within various nationalities and cultures requires university students to be more adaptive and show greater understanding to make sure that harmony between the campus community is preserved.
Addressing the new intake during the Bai’ah ceremony on Friday (1 October) and referring to the seven missions of the university, IIUM Rector, Prof. Emeritus Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak urged the students to have a dialogue between one another regardless of origin to understand and learn more about each other.
“Although we are Muslims, sometimes our cultural baggage makes us different, and we need to understand those so that it becomes something that we can accept and adapt so that the harmony and peace within the campus are maintained.”
“One word may have a different pronunciation and terminology but the moment you get into the common understanding, the word means then we can begin to live together in a balanced and harmonious way,” the Rector stressed.
Other than that, Prof. Emeritus Tan Sri Dzulkifli touched on being a role model to the world outside in the context of practising Islam in daily life.
“As you graduate from this university, you will become the role model wherever you are that symbolises what Islam is meant for us in terms of its high moral value, high moral standards and high living standard in the context of civilisation.
“The world is under challenge and everybody now is looking for a new model that could bring everybody together in the framework of the university policy, Rahmatan Lil Alamin (Mercy to all creations),” he said.
The Bai’ah ceremony marked the end of a weeklong Ta’aruf Week (TaWe) for the new student intake for semester 1, 2021/2022. The ceremony was the welcoming gestures and the highlight of the Ta’aruf Week programme which were held from 26 September until 1 October 2021.
Due to current global COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s edition of TaWe programme was conducted online and streamed through IIUM Official YouTube channel and Zoom. ***