Nahdlatul Ulama Wants To Forge Closer Ties With Malaysian Muslim Community

JAKARTA (Indonesia), May 16 (Bernama) -- One of the largest Indonesian Muslim organisations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), hopes to forge closer relations with the Muslim community in Malaysia through various activities. Head of Nahdlatul Ulama Central Board, Prof Dr Said Aqil Siradj said the organisation fervently hoped, among others, to build relations at the community level in the fields of knowledge, religion and entrepreneurship. "Islam is not only about faith and rulings, but Islam also discusses culture, development and humanity," he told a press conference at the end of a meeting with a Malaysian delegation led by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Jamil Khir Baharom at the Nahdlatul Ulama office in Keramat Raya, here, Tuesday. In forging better relations, the areas could cover mosque management, cooperatives, small entrepreneurs, religious schools and private religious colleges, he said. With a total membership of 70 million, NU has 21,600 religious schools throughout Indonesia with eight million students, two million small entrepreneurs, 800,000 mosques and surau, as well as 400,000 madrasah. -- BERNAMA