Renowned Islamic Scholar Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer passes away

Programme Review and Programme Direction

Two key deliberative sessions during the 15th CCA General Assembly are the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions.

The Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions will both be conducted in three groups relating to the CCA’s programme areas, namely, (i) General Secretariat (GS), (ii) Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF); and (iii) Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia (PD).

Assembly participants will have the option to join one of three groups for both the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions. For the sake of coherence, the assigned group will remain the same for both sessions.

General Secretariat

The General Secretariat oversees the coordination of programmatic, administrative, and financial activities of the organization. The GS comprises various departments such as church and ecumenical relations, relations with ecumenical partners, finance, administration, and communications, which provide crucial support and services for the implementation of programs and contribute to the overall functioning of the CCA.

Programmes: Relations with member churches and councils, ecumenical partners; advocacy at the United Nations; ecumenical responses to emerging issues in solidarity; income development and finance; and communications.

Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)

Under the MU programme area, the CCA accompanies Asian churches to strengthen their mission and witness in multi-religious contexts, revitalise and nurture church unity and the Asian ecumenical movement, and develop contextual theological foundations.

Programmes: Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU); Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS); Asian women doing theology in the context of wider ecumenism; contextualisation of theology in Asia and ecumenical theological education.

The EF programme area focuses on nurturing and developing ecumenical leaders in Asia. The programme aims to enhance spiritual formation and theological understanding, enabling people to actively engage in ecumenical dialogue and collaboration.

Programmes: Ecumenical Enablers’ Training in Asia (EETA); Asian Ecumenical Institute (AEI); Youth and Women Leadership Development; Ecumenical Spirituality and Nurturing of Contextual Liturgical Traditions; Asia Sunday

Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia and Advocacy (PD)

The BP programme area is dedicated to promoting peace, justice, and reconciliation in Asia’s diverse contexts. Through training, advocacy, and dialogue, the programme addresses the root causes of conflicts, empowers communities, and fosters sustainable peacebuilding initiatives.

Programmes: Pastoral Solidarity Visits; Churches in Action for Moving Beyond Conflict and Resolution; Young Ambassadors of Peace in Asia (YAPA); Ecumenical Women’s Action Against Violence (EWAAV); Eco-Justice for Sustainable Peace in the Oikos.

The PD programme area focuses on promoting justice, human rights, and social transformation in Asia. Through advocacy, capacity-building, and raising awareness, the programme addresses systemic injustice, empowers marginalised communities, and advocates for prophetic actions and meaningful change.

Programmes: Human Rights advocacy; Migration, Statelessness, and Trafficking in Persons; Asian Ecumenical Disability Advocacy Network; Asian Advocacy Network on the Dignity and Rights of Children (AANDRoC); Ecumenical Solidarity Accompaniment and Diakonia in Asia (ESADA); Health and Healing; Good Governance; Action Together to Combat HIV and AIDS in Asia (ATCHAA).

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14 May 2013

The Ecumenical World has lost a friend

Christian Conference of Asia regrets to announce the passing away of noted Islamic scholar Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer today in Mumbai, India, after a prolonged illness. He was 73 years old and is survived by a son and a daughter.

He was born in a Bohra priestly family in Salumbar, Rajasthan (near Udaipur). He was given training in Qur'anic tafsir (commentry), Tawil (hidden meaning of Qur'an), fiqh(jurisprudence) and hadith (Prophet's sayings). He graduated in civil engineering from Indore, India.

Dr. Engineer was recognised as a distinguished scholar of Islam and was invited for international conferences on Islam by various governments and universities. He has been a friend of the CCA and has been a much sought after resource person in programs on Christian- Muslim Dialogue and Inter-religious Consultations. Though he had accepted an invitation to be the Key-note speaker for a Christian-Muslim Religious Leaders Conference in March 2013 in Jakarta, Indonesia, on the theme “A Common Word to Common Action for Justice,” he was unable to attend it due to ill-health.

Dr. Engineer had received several awards on his work on inter-religious understanding, including the National Communal Harmony Award for 1997 by the Government of India in recognition of his work for promoting communal harmony throughout the country. In 1987, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the USA International Student Assembly and the USA Indian Student Assembly.

He was the Founder and Chairperson of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS), has authored 52 books, many papers and articles, including those for scholarly journals. He edited the 'Indian Journal of Secularism', and a monthly paper, Islam and Modern Age.

In a condolence message to his family, Dr. Henriette Hutabarat Lebang, CCA General Secretary, wrote:

“We at the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) are shocked and grieved to hear the news of the passing away of your beloved father, and our esteemed friend, Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer.

He will be remembered always for the remarkable way in which he used his erudition and expertise in Qur'anic tafsir (commentary), Tawil (hidden meaning of Qur'an), Fiqh (jurisprudence), Hadith (Prophet's sayings) and knowledge of the Arabic language to promote inter-religious understanding and communal harmony. He will always be revered as an Islamic scholar and teacher who brought out the essence of Islam, taught people to respect all religions and considered faith as most vital for a meaningful life.

He was a dear friend of the Christian Ecumenical movement, particularly of the CCA and has graced many of our major Inter-religious Conferences and Christian-Muslim Dialogues. We regret that he was unable to attend the ‘Conference of Muslim-Christian Religious Leaders in Asia’, held in March this year at Jakarta, Indonesia, where he was to be Key-Note speaker. When we invited him to this conference, he immediately replied positively and made his ticket reservation. This indicates his commitment to ‘work together for a harmonious interreligious relationship’. We were moved as he tried his best to find a very economic ticket to Jakarta which tells us of his simplicity. However we regret that his health conditions did not permit him to travel.

In his sad demise the world has lost a Peace activist, a great thinker and a prolific writer who authored as many as many as 52 books, many papers and articles, including those for scholarly journals.

At this time of grief, we pray that Allah the most benevolent will be with you and your sister, and your family members. The best tribute that we can make to this great person, will be to follow his teachings and continue striving for communal harmony and to nurture a willingness to delve deep into our scriptures to understand faith and religion in promoting peaceful, loving, just and compassionate coexistence. May God bless you."