The International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation in Malaysia Holds Memorial Lecture for Daisaku Ikeda
Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr. Osman Bakar of ISTAC-IIUM delivering the memorial lecture
On January 2, 2024, the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation (ISTAC) of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and Soka Gakkai Malaysia (SGM) co-organized a memorial lecture to pay tribute to Daisaku Ikeda, Honorary President of the Soka Gakkai and President of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), who passed away on November 15, 2023.
The event, held at ISTAC in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
on the 96th anniversary of Mr. Ikeda’s birth, was attended by some 200 people,
including representatives from sectors such as academia, diplomacy and civil
society.
Hosting the event, Professor Dr. Abdelaziz
Berghout, dean of ISTAC-IIUM, emphasized that Mr. Ikeda’s thoughts and ideals
transmit hope and provide ways to strengthen human solidarity, which, he said,
is especially relevant in view of the complex and critical challenges the world
faces today. SGM General Director Koh Sia Feai also gave opening words.
Associate Professor Dr. Imtiyaz Yusuf, a non-resident
research fellow of the Center for Islam in the Contemporary World (CICW) at
Shenandoah University in the U.S. and a former associate professor and coordinator
of the Islamization of Knowledge Program and the Islam and Buddhism Program at
ISTAC-IIUM, attended online and delivered a speech. He stressed that Mr. Ikeda
envisioned religion in the twenty-first century as a means of empowering people to think
independently and act autonomously. Mr. Ikeda, he said, saw Buddhism as a
philosophy that, at its core, treasures each individual and embodies a
humanistic approach to life.
The memorial lecture was delivered by Emeritus
Professor Datuk Dr. Osman Bakar, Al-Ghazali Chair of Epistemology and Civilizational
Studies and Renewal at ISTAC-IIUM. He expressed his admiration for Mr. Ikeda,
whom he first encountered through reading Choose Life, a dialogue
between Mr. Ikeda and British historian Arnold J. Toynbee. He commended Mr. Ikeda
for his role as a noted philosopher and for his extraordinary ability to foster
dialogue among people from diverse cultures and faiths. This, he said, demonstrated
the significance of cultivating a dialogical culture, particularly in
multiracial, multicultural countries like Malaysia.
A commemorative photo was taken with panelists and participants following the event.
[Adapted from an article in the January 23, 2024, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai, Japan, and an article on the Soka Gakkai Malaysia website]
