Islamic Studies in the ASEAN Region

Abstract

The College of Islamic Studies, Prince of Songkla University, organized an international seminar on Islamic Studies in the ASEAN Region: History, Approaches, and Future Trends, between 25-28 June 1998 at the Pattani campus of the Prince of Songkla University. The seminar was sponsored by the Toyota Foundation (Japan) and the Center for IMT-GT Studies, and the Prince of Songkla University, Thailand. The opening ceremony was presided over by His Excellency Mr. Wan Muhammad Noor Matta (Speaker and President of the Thai Parliament). He was welcomed by Dr. Sunthorn Sotthibandhu (President, Prince of Songkla University). Dr. Hasan Madmarn (Director, College of Islamic Studies, Prince of Songkla University) presented a briefing, and Mr. Shiro Honda represented Japan’s Toyota Foundation, the event’s major sponsor. In his speech, HE Mr. Wan Muhammad Noor Matta said that the tradition of Islamic studies has played, for several centuries, a significant role in building a spirit of fraternity and the development of education, economy, society, and politics in Southeast Asia. Pattani, he noted, had been an important center of this intellectual and social activity. Hence, this gathering of prominent contemporary scholars of Islamic studies recognized this legacy and contributed to the further development of Islamic studies in the region. Commenting upon the traditional and modem forms of the Islamic tradition present in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), he called upon scholars to address cooperatively the intellectual and social challenges facing the Southeast Asian Muslim communities for the larger benefit and progress of the ASEAN countries and the Muslim world The total number of participants in the seminar was 117, consisting of 45 delegates from outside Thailand and 72 delegates from academic institutions in various Thai provinces. A total of 33 research papers were ...