“We Muslims should be well-prepared for such dialogue forums by mastering the language to articulate our religious views efficiently. We should also have some basic knowledge of other religions,” said Mohammad Siddik, an academic and a member of the Indonesian Ulema Council.

“Islam has a lot to offer to the world. It's the panacea for world problems. The dialogue forums will certainly enhance its credibility and acceptability among other communities and contribute to spreading its message of peace and harmony among more people,” he said.

Siddik, who worked for the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank for 17 years and UNICEF for six years, is happy over the increasing acceptance of Islamic finance in different parts of the world, including non-Muslim countries. “Islamic finance has achieved 22 percent growth rate worldwide last year with its total assets reaching more than $1.2 trillion,” he said.

In an interview with Arab News, Siddik urged Muslim countries to focus on education and training to accelerate the development process. “Education is the key to success. Priority should be given to establishing more educational and technical institutions to bring about positive changes in our societies,” he said.

Siddik thanked the Kingdom for establishing an Islamic institute in Jakarta under the Riyadh-based Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University. “This institute is playing an important role in imparting religious education to our young men and women. We hope the university would introduce English language courses in the institute for the benefit of its students,” he said.

He highlighted Indonesia's growing role as a G-20 member. “Indonesia has made remarkable progress in recent years and we would like to have greater cooperation with Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries in various sectors,” he said.

Indonesia has many world-class universities and institutes attracting pupils from different parts of the world, he added.

During his time at the IDB from 1984 to 2002, Siddik was head of the bank's scholarship program, which has benefited thousands of academically meritorious and financially needy students. “The IDB scholarship program aims at fostering economic development and social progress of the member countries as well as Muslim communities in nonmember countries,” he pointed out.

There are three scholarship programs funded and implemented by the IDB with the motto of developing the Ummah worldwide. The first program was launched in 1983 to enable Muslim students from nonmember countries to undertake undergraduate studies in medicine, engineering and other professional fields.

The second program was introduced in 1998 to assist students from 20 least developed IDB member countries to obtain master degrees in science and technology from universities in member countries. The third program helps brilliant students from member countries to conduct advanced studies or research in applied sciences and high technologies, he explained.

Siddik, who is head of the supervisory body of UAI, an enterprising university in Indonesia, called upon Muslim youth to play a decisive role in changing the face of their countries by introducing democratic administrative systems and bringing about unity and cooperation among different Muslim groups.

“Our education systems should be revised to develop an Islamic world view among our younger generation,” he said, stressing the need for Muslim students to learn pure sciences and mathematics while upholding their Islamic values.