Yuus Centre Press Release - 18 December 2023



Alor Setar, Kedah state of Malaysia, December 16, 2023

The 3rd convocation of Al Bukhary (social business) University was held in its campus at Alor Setar, Kedah state of Malaysia, just 100 km south of the Thai border, on December 16, 2023, at the convocation hall at AIU.

Since its inception, Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, has served as the chancellor of the university. He was involved in designing this social business focused university from its conceptualising phase. At this year’s grand ceremony attended by over 1,000 people, including the vice-chancellor, graduands, faculty members,     seven ambassadors, members of the board of governors and senate, parents and family members, he conferred degrees in business administration, early education, mass media and communications, and computer studies, to 231 students. Additionally, Professor Yunus presented awards to students achieving the highest academic honors in various streams, including the Chancellor awards and the inaugural Sharifah Rokia award, named after the name of the university founder Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary's mother.

Among the students was a young woman from Palestine, Ms Ghufran Zagmuth, who had the Palestinian flag draped around her gown as a protest against the extreme barbarity of the killing  civilian population  that is being perpetrated in her country, and powerful nations  keeping complete silence about it. It was also a protest by the students of AIU for killing of a fellow student, a very bright second year student, Suleiman Abu Anzar. He  was killed in October by sniper fire during the Israeli attack on Palestine.  He was visiting from AIU during semester break  to meet his family in Gaza to show solidarity. He never got back to his friends at AIU. The whole campus burst into anger against this loss. He was a student of computer sciences.

Expressing his congratulations to the graduating class, Professor Yunus remarked that they are unique in the world and would be the ones to create a new  civilisation of peace among all people by demolishing all the walls created by the present civilisation. Al Bukhary International (Social Business) University, is a not-for-profit private international university with social business principles at its core. Established as a social business university, it integrates social business philosophy into all courses and the curriculum. With a fully residential campus and state-of-the-art facilities, 90% of the students come from economically challenged backgrounds in foreign countries. The university fully finances all students, covering travel expenses to and from the campus, residential facilities, food, costs of supportive gadgets,  and  pocket money to cover incidental costs. Situated on a 46-acre site, the campus is architecturally designed, drawing inspiration from classic wonders like the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Citadel of Bukhara, the University of Al Qarawiyyn in Morocco, and the Suleumaniye Mosque in Turkey. There are currently 1300 students at the university coming from 60 countries.

AIU proudly boasts the largest number of Three Zero Clubs among all universities which have created Three Zero Clubs dedicated to the mission of creating a 3 Zero World: zero net carbon emission, zero wealth concentration, and zero unemployment. AIU also hosted Yunus Centre’s signature global event  the 13th Social Business Day in Langkawi, Malaysia in July 2023 bringing more than 600  influential global and national leaders, Nobel Peace Laureates, Social Business practitioners, enthusiasts, and  change-makers from 31 countries.

Photo Caption 1: Nobel Peace Laureate and Chancellor of Albukhary International University Professor Muhammad Yunus is delivering the convocation speech at the 3rd Convocation Ceremony of the University on 16th December 2023.

Photo Caption 2: Nobel Peace Laureate and Chancellor of Albukhary International University Professor Muhammad Yunus is handing over the certificate to the graduate student of AIU from Palestine. She is draped with a Palestanian flag. One of her colleague was killed when he went to Gaza to visit his family  during semester break.

Photo Caption 3: Sulaiman Abu Anza, a student of Albukhary International University, was martyred in the Israeli sniper bullet in Gaza.

Photo Caption 4: An event of remembrance was organized by students at AIU's campus on October 13, 2023, to honor the memory of their fellow student, Suleiman Abu Anzar, a second-year Computer Science student from Palestine. Suleiman was killed by Israeli sniper attacked while he was visiting his family in October 2023. The entire campus resonated with a collective sense of grief and anger in response to this tragic loss.

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