The Role Of Islamic Propagation Society International (IPSI) And Its Implementation Of Interfaith Dialogue In Mosque Penang, Malaysia

This paper attempts to highlight the role of Islamic Propagation
Society International (IPSI) in Interfaith Dialogue in Penang,
Malaysia. Although the concept of interfaith dialogue is mentioned
explicitly in the Holy Qur’an about 1400 years ago, it is still not
commonly practiced today, partly because it needs the engagement
from both sides, this regards for example the Muslim-Christian
engagement. Due the wide spread of misconceptions and stereotypes
against Islam in this era of globalization, Muslim scholars started to
reactivate this divine effort. The contribution of late Ahmad Deedat
who has inspired young Muslim to engage in this interfaith activity,
as a result, the increasing number of Muslim personalities excel in
this field such as Dr. Zakir Naik, Dr. Shabbir Ally, Hamza Tzortzis
and Abdullah al-Andalusi to name a few. Surely, interfaith dialogue
is one of the many effective ways to clear misconceptions about
Islam and Muslims. This research is mainly based on observations
and interviews at the Kapitan Keling mosque, Penang and IPSI
headquarters in Penang. The research findings show that IPSI plays a very significant role in interfaith dialogue in Penang, and hence, the approach can be applied in any mosques in Malaysia which attracts many non-Muslim tourists such as Putra mosque and National mosque of Malaysia.