Muhammad Sirajuddin "Din" Syamsuddin, Muhammadiyah General Chairman for the 2005-2010 leadership term, revealed here on Thursday morning that late Bahtiar Effendy's daughter, Atia Ajani, confirmed the passing of her father.
Din Syamsuddin expressed his deep condolences over the death of Effendy, a noted figure of Muhammadiyah who obtained his PhD from Ohio State University in 1994, and urged the entire nation to pray for him to get awarded "husnul khotimah" (with blessings ahead).
Born on Dec 10, 1958 in Ambarawa, Central Java Province, Professor Bahtiar Effendy finished his Sarjana (bachelor) degree at the Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University while his master degree was obtained from the Ohio State University.
Effendy who had reportedly published at least 15 books was popular among scholars due to his active contribution to academic discourses on various religious and political issues. Many of his writings were published in credible media in Indonesia.
One of the books that he launched at the hall of the Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University's Social and Political Sciences Faculty on May 2, 2017 was entitled "INSIGHT: Essays on Islam and Public Affairs" (UIN Jakarta's official website, 2019).
The preface of this 237-paged book was given by R.William Liddle, professor emeritus at the Ohio State University. It is divided into five chapters: Islam and Public Affairs, The Reality of Democratic Politics, Islam and Electoral Politics, Religious Dialogue, and International Affairs.
Professor Bahtiar Effendy was not just noted as a professor in political sciences at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, his alma mater.
Instead, as a leading Muslim scholar, he had also taught at the University of Indonesia's Postgraduate Studies, and had ever headed the post-graduate studies at the Muhammadiyah University in Jakarta.
As revealed in Merdeka.com, he had also become a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (March 2007-Feb 2008), and at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand (2008).
Professor Bahtiar Effendy was also a member of the American Political Science Association (APSA), the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP), the Indonesian Muslim Scholars Association (ICMI) and the Indonesian Political Sciences Association (AIPI).
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Translator: Katrina, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
