Description: 31 people of interfaith youth who came from various religious organizations and youth communities in Cirebon and Majalengka, visited the Central Board of Muhammadiyah’s Office on June 12, 2024 (Photo by: Dul/ @fahminainstitute)
Discussing various social and religious issues and looking for joint solutions to overcome prejudice in society, the Fahmina Institute, an institution that focuses on developing critical religious discourse, visited the Central Board of Muhammadiyah’s Office. This visit was received by the Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah program management team in the 2nd Floor Meeting Room of the Muhammadiyah Da’wah Center Building, Central Jakarta. The group from the Fahmina Institute who attended on Wednesday 12 June 2024 consisted of 31 people of interfaith youth who came from various religious organizations and youth communities in Cirebon Regency and Majalengka Regency, West Java.
During this visit, the Fahmina Institute initiated a dialogue entitled ‘Removing Prejudices Encouraging Collaboration’. “Apart from wanting to strengthen friendship, we want to open up space for dialogue and encourage collaboration between religious organizations, so that we hope to create better understanding between the community,” said Alifatul Arifiati, Executive Body of JISRA Fahmina Institute.
Description: Alifatul Arifiati, Executive Body of JISRA Fahmina Institute said that the visit aim to encourage understanding and collaboration between religious organizations. (Photo by: Dul/ @fahminainstitute)
Alif, Alifatul’s nickname, revealed that the initiative for this meeting actually came from friends in the youth community based on a shared reflection that it was important to take the time to visit various religious organizations, one of which was visiting the Muhammadiyah Orgaziation. “Meetings are very important to bridge differences, including bridging the issue of harmony with environmental issues, as Muhammadiyah does through the Eco Bhinneka program,” said Alif.
Description: Triningsih, Program and Finance Coordinator for Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah, said that the activity target of the Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah program is women and young people across religions (Photo by: Karin/ @ecobhinneka)
Triningsih, as Program and Finance Coordinator for Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah, introduced the Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah program, which is one of Muhammadiyah’s programs that works on the issue of peace building, maintaining harmony between religions and beliefs through environmental conservation actions. “The target of the Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah program is women and young people across religions taking joint action to preserve the environment, in Pontianak, Ternate, Surakarta, and Banyuwangi, as well as forming interfaith youth communities in these 4 locations, called SEKA, PEKA, Sederek, and AMONG, “explained Triningsih.
“The environment is a gift from God for our future generations. So, it is our collective responsibility to ensure that it is sustainable for our children and grandchildren,” she added. Triningsih, who is also the Executive Body of JISRA Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah, explained that Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah and the Fahmina Institute are both local partner organizations in Indonesia that implement the Joint Initiative for Strategic Religious Action program, or known as JISRA.
Ahsan Hamidi, Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah Activist, emphasized that the threat to environmental sustainability is not caused by one entity based on skin, race or religion, so neither is the solution. “In fact, everyone has to come together. That is an environmental issue, it cannot be separated from harmony, because to solve environmental problems, people must be in harmony.” said Ahsan. “Advocacy movements for environmental improvement and sustainability are carried out by a group whose basic value is harmony,” added Ahsan, who is currently active as a Board Member at the Muhammadiyah Branch Development Institute (LPCR) of the Central Board of Muhammadiyah.
Description: Ahsan Hamidi, Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah Activist, said that advocacy movements for environmental improvement and sustainability are carried out by a group whose basic value is harmony. (Photo by: Dul/ @fahminainstitute)
The dialogue activity was closed by exchanging souvenirs. Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah gave a book souvenir entitled ‘Sustaining Harmony, Nurturing the Nature’ (Merawat Kerukunan, Melestarikan Lingkungan) to the Fahmina Institute. This book, which will be released in 2023, is a collaboration between the Eco Bhinneka Muhammadiyah program and the Muhammadiyah Environmental Council of the Central Board of Muhammadiyah. This book further emphasizes that religious values encourage every believer to preserve the earth, the place where all humans live. The Fahmina Institute also provides souvenirs in the form of paintings depicting the Javanese Wayang character named Krishna. In Javanese Wayang stories, the figure of Krishna is considered a symbol of peace, prosperity, and justice for humans in the universe.
Description: In Javanese Wayang stories, the figure of Krishna is considered a symbol of peace, prosperity, and justice for humans in the universe. (Photo by: Dul/ @fahminainstitute)
