RISEAP Conducts Imam Course in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. RISEAP dispatched its da’wah officers to train a group of 27 Imams at Masjid Jamiul Muslimin in Ho Chi Mihn City, from 11-16 March 2010. The training is part of RISEAP’s da’wah programme to inculcate Islamic core values. The training of the Imam in Muslim minority countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific is an on going programs of RISEAP. The participants were imams of various mosques around Ho Chi Mihn City (formerly known as Saigon). The imams were from Masjid Jamiul Anwar, Masjid Musalman, Masjid Al Sa’Adah, Masjid Nurul Islam and Surau Al-Mubarak. It is estimated that there are about 73,000 Muslims in Vietnam, and about 5,500 of them are living in Ho Chi Mihn City, mainly Cham ethnic group. There are about 15 mosques and surau (Musala) in Ho Chi Mihn City. Among them are Masjid Jamiul Muslimin in Phunhuan District, Masjid Jamiul Anwar in District 8, Masjid Jamiul Islamiah in District 1, Masjid Hayatul Islam in District 10 and Surau Nurul Ehsan in Phunhnan.
The Opening Ceremony was held at the class room (ground floor of the mosque) on 11 March 2010. It was a simple ceremony beginning with Qur’an recitation by Ustaz Mohamad Amin Omar Ali, a qari who represented Vietnam to the International Qur’an Reading in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2008. The opening remark was given by Hj Idris Ismail, President of Islamic Community of Ho Chi Mihn City, who thanked RISEAP especially Secretary General, Hj Mohamad Marzuki Omar, for sending a religious teacher to conduct the course. He also thanked the participants who represented various mosques around Ho Chi Mihn City. He expressed his gratitude to Vietnamese government for allowing the course to proceed without any difficulty.
RISEAP thanked the Vietnamese government for allowing the organization to conduct religious activities in Vietnam. The training course was conducted in cooperation with Islamic Community of Ho Chi Mihn City who provided a venue and other assistance. The 6-day course was a refresher course focusing not only on Islamic knowledge and experiences to the imams but also to instill a sense of responsibility and leadership in order to be more effective as grass-root leaders in their respective community. Besides, the training was to enable the Imams to share their knowledge and experiences from their respective localities.
The participants were comprised of different age group, (the youngest was 22, and the oldest was 71 years old). They were very keen to acquire Islamic knowledge from RISEAP. They were very disciplined as everyone was in class at least half an hour before the class started and the attendance was full throughout the course. They were proud to be selected to attend the course and they gave full attention to the course. The lectures focused on important subjects including Prayers, Janazah Preparation, Haj/Umrah, Aqiqah and Qur’an/Hadith. It was rewarding to note that the participants were very keen to study and showed their seriousness to learn more about Islam. It was an interactive program and several questions related to Islamic laws were raised by the participants.
The classes were conducted by Ustaz Nik Syahriman Nik Mat, RISEAP Da’wah and Education Officer, daily from 8.00 to 17.00. The medium of instruction was Bahasa Melayu but was translated into Vietnamese by Ustaz Haji Musa who is also Imam and teacher at Masjid Jamiul Anwar.
During the course, RISEAP’s officers were able to meet with almost every RISEAP’s Imam and Muslimah courses’ alumni from Vietnam. Among them were those who attended the earliest course in 2000, except Sis Cha Hoa Heir (Jawahir) who is currently living with her husband in the US. Ustaz Math Rosali who attended Imam Course in 2009, took three hours journey by bus from his home town, Tay Ninh, to Ho Chi Mihn City, just to meet his teachers. his wife (Sis Hasanah) and he, , left after RISEAP gave a dinner at a restaurant. Other participants who came were Sis Roslynda Ismail (2001), Br Sanawy Ibrahim (2000), Br Salleh Ali (2001), Br Abdul Rahman (2003), Br Demalux (2001), Br Ahmad Atry (2009) and Br Mohamad Amin (2009)
The course ended on 16 March 2010. The Closing Ceremony was held at the class room and started by Qur’an reading by a qari, Ustaz Mohamad Saliem followed by closing remarks by Hj Idris Ismail and Ustaz Nik Syahriman Nik Mat. On behalf on RISEAP, Ustaz Nik thanked all members of Islamic Community of Ho Chi Mihn City, led by its President, Hj Idris Ismail and Ustaz Abdul Rahman Ibrahim who gave full support and assistance to the course. He also expressed his appreciation to all participants who were dedicated and committed in acquiring Islamic knowledge in order to improve themselves and Muslims in Vietnam.
RISEAP’s secretariat registered its thank to every individual concerned in Ho Chi Minh City, especially Hj Idris Ismail, President of Islamic Community and Ustaz Abdul Rahman and many others for their help and warm welcome to RISEAP staff (Ustaz Nik Syahriman Nik Mat and Br Aree Mamat) during their stay in Ho Chi Mihn City. RISEAP also thank the government of Vietnam for allowing RISEAP to conduct the course and hope the similar training course will be held in Vietnam again in the near future, Insya Allah.
