Restu Festival Aims to ‘Internalize’ Quranic Teachings: Advisor
Professor Hikmatullah Babu Sahib made the remarks in an exclusive interview with IQNA on the sidelines of Restu Global Quranic Arts Festival at Nasyrul Quran Complex, Putrajaya.
“Quran is not only to be recited but also it should be internalized,” he said, noting, “We feel that this is the area that we can look in because the problem is that the Quran is not applied.”
The arts festival has been organized by Restu Foundation and foreign partners including the Iranian Cultural Center in Malaysia. Kicked off on January 20, 2023, four countries participated in the 10-day event.
The Singaporean professor described the event as an “excellent” one. He noted that the event was not held for a few years because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
This is the first time that the event has been held at this level, he said, noting that the festival will hopefully be held biennially.
Babu Sahib also hoped that more countries would attend the next editions.
He also lauded Iran for an early acceptance of the invitation. “The only country which is showing great interest in such events is Iran.”
“According to my knowledge of Iranian culture and history, I think maybe only one percent of the potential is here because Iran is a rich country in terms of artists,” added the professor.
Restu Foundations’ Quranic programs
Elsewhere, the advisor said that the Restu Foundation is working on several projects such as a Quranic café, Quranic garden, Quranic farm, and Quranic village.
“Quranic café will offer whatever the Quran has mentioned as a food,” he said, noting that courses will be organized to teach cooking based on teachings of the religion.
Another section, he maintained, is to study other Muslim nations’ foods to see what they use in their meals.
According to Babu Sahib, culinary medicine is among other topics that the foundation will work on in the future. Courses will be organized in which students will learn about the anatomy and diseases of the heart, the medicines available for the problems, and the medicines that are mentioned in the Quran and the Sunnah.
“Every angle will be studied,” he stressed.
The advisor also provided more details about the Quranic village project. The village will contain “drawings of the whole Quran … When you walk through the village, it will tell you the recitation of the Surah.”
This will be a “visual Quran”, he stressed.
Pointing to the importance of fine arts, the professor said, “These are the areas that we will work on in the next levels of activities.”
Regretting that people are moving away from the Quran, he said “We are working to make sure that people are connected to the Quran.”
