As part of the State Department's International Visitor Program entitled "Religion and Society: A Dialogue," two delegations of religious scholars and university professors visited IIIT on Thursday April 17 and Friday, April 18, 2008.
The program for the delegation from Thailand and the Phillippines included twelve religious scholars, six from each country. Most of the members of the delegation were professors of Islamic studies in their respective universities. Their program, which was coordinated by Georgetown University and Indiana University, focused on learning about the role of religion in American society, the relationship between religion and the State and interfaith relations, beside Islam and Muslims in the US.
On April 16th Dr. Abubaker al Shingieti, Regional Director at IIIT, made a presentation about Minority Jurisprudence to the Thai and Philippine scholars at Georgetown University.
The Indonesian delegation, which was coordinated by Legacy International, included twelve scholars from three different provinces in Indonesia, most of them professors in Islamic state universities in Indonesia.
Members of both delegations listened to presentations about IIIT, its mission, its history, its current activities and future plans, presented by Dr. Hisham Altalib who addressed the Thai and Filipino delegations, and Dr. Jamal Barzinji who spoke to the Indonesian scholars.
A lively discussion on the Islamization of Knowledge, minority Jurisprudence and Islam in America ensued.
IIIT presented the scholars with copies of its most recent publications as gifts.
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