GARIFF2024: Usrah in Action Exhibition in Celebration of Empowerment and Heritage

By, Adibah Amir

The Global Arabic Islamic Annual Festival (GARIFF) 2024, held at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) recently featured a booth exhibition from the university’s core course, Usrah In Action (UIA) from 18 to 20 December 2024. Among the GARIFF exhibitors was a representative from Section 40 of the course, showcasing outputs from the course’s community project under the guidance of myself, an academic from the Department of Manufacturing and Materials Engineering, Kulliyyah of Engineering spanning the years 2022 to 2024.

They exhibited harvested pure stingless bee honey and downstream skincare products derived from their project on Urban Stingless Beekeeping with Urban Poor Communities including moisturizing honey soap, propolis balm for dry skin and insect bites, propolis-plus coffee body scrub, and honey-infused moisturising cream. Aligning with the festival’s theme, “Empowering Global Citizenship with Islamic Heritage in the Digital Era,” the exhibition highlighted how Islamic principles and innovative approaches can drive impactful community projects.

This course empowers students with hands-on experience in urban stingless beekeeping, focusing on sustainable practices and meaningful engagement with urban poor communities. Through this initiative, students acquired technical skills in hive management and honey harvesting and learned to preserve Malaysia’s unique cultural heritage of halalan tayyiban (pure and permissible) superfood—stingless bee honey. This type of honey is rare because stingless bees are a unique species that do not sting, unlike other bee species, and it can only be found in tropical forests like those in Malaysia.

The project’s commitment to blending academic knowledge, social responsibility, and environmental sustainability earned recognition at the 5^th University Usrah In Action Symposium, securing both the Gold Award for innovation and the Most Collaborative Award for fostering strong partnerships with community stakeholders. These accolades reflect the dedication of students and stakeholders involved in addressing real-world challenges while creating socio-economic opportunities for marginalized groups.

Stingless bee honey (kelulut honey), native to Malaysia’s tropical ecosystem, stands as a symbol of the country’s rich natural heritage and is celebrated for its nutritional and medicinal properties. By incorporating smart farming technologies and real-time monitoring systems, students enhanced honey production efficiency while embracing digital transformation in agriculture. This approach not only modernizes traditional practices but also ensures scalability and sustainability across urban farming initiatives.

The exhibition became a testament to how education, when rooted in Islamic values and modern technology, can create meaningful change. It showcased the potential of urban stingless beekeeping as a pathway to community empowerment, environmental conservation, and economic resilience. The success of this initiative highlights the importance of cross-disciplinary approaches and student-community collaboration in achieving global sustainability goals. Through such projects, the university continues to play a vital role in empowering individuals, preserving cultural heritage, and driving positive societal transformation.***

(Dr. Adibah Amir, is an academic in the Department of Manufacturing and Materials Engineering, Kulliyyah of Engineering, International Islamic University Malaysia.)

Booth Usrah In Action Section 40 

Harvested pure stingless bee honey, moisturizing honey soap, propolis balm for dry skin and insect bites, propolis-plus coffee body scrub, and honey-infused moisturising cream

Booth visitors take picture with Dr. Adibah (middle)