By NNN-Bernama,
Rembau, Malaysia : The opening of its first ever branch campus in Malaysia by Egypt’s famed Al-Azhar University will attract thousands of Muslim students from the South East Asian and enhance Malaysia’s image in the world, says an Al-Azhar representative, Dr Umar Abdullah Kamil.
The establishment of the branch campus outside the Middle East also marks the changing of the mindset of Al-Azhar, which has a history of more than 1,000 years since the beginning of its foundation during the reign of the Fatimiyyah Dynasty, he said.
“Just like in Cairo, the branch campus will have a mosque and students’ organization. We have worked hard to make this come true and Alhamdulillah (God willing), we will succeed,” he told reporters after the ground-breaking ceremony for the branch campus at the Yayasan Sofa Negeri Sembilan Complex, near Kampung Bukit Sembilan in the central malaysian state of Negri Sembilan Sunday.
He said the Al-Azhar University Council planned to establish a smaller branch campus in Thailand in the future.
He is confident that Becasue of Malaysia’s image and the Islamic development in this country, students from Indonesia, Thailand and India will prefer to futher their studies at Al-Azhar’s Rembau branch.
Al-Azhar, established in 975, currently has about 28,000 students, with about 7,000 of them coming from this region. It is recognized as one of the oldest structred institutions of higher learning in the world.
Umar said the university chose Malaysia for its first ever branch campus because the country has a large Muslim population “and the Malays are known among Arabs as having strong faith in the religion and follow the Sunnah Al Jamaah”.
He hopes the branch campus will be a step forward for Al-Azhar to broaden its influence in the world.
Meanwhile, Negeri Sembilan chief minister Mohamad Hasan said discussions among Al-Azhar, Yayasan Sofa, a Negri Sembilan welfare and educational foundation, and the Malaysian government were ongoing, including on the costs involved, and the size of the campus and student intake.
Negeri Sembilan Fatwa Council member Sheikh Muhammad Fuad Kamaludin said the branch campus would initially offer Syariah and Usuluddin degree courses.
Syariah Court judge Mohamed Shukor Sabudin said its establishment would be a most significant moment for Muslims in this region.
“We hope it will not only become the nerve centre for Islamic studies and intellectual discourse, but also a reference centre for Muslims with problems or questions relating to Islamic teachings and Islamic law.”