Former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said wisdom must be applied in solving issues involving life and human wellbeing.

Universiti Islam Malaysia (UIM) in a statement here today said, Abdullah believed that by applying wisdom, better solutions for certain issues could be formulated.

"Through discussions and exchange of views, wisdom will be enriched and further appreciated by the people across the world," Abdullah was quoted as saying at the opening of the International Seminar on Cultural and Religious Wisdom at UIM campus in Cyberjaya today.

Meanwhile, UIM president Tan Sri Dr Mohd Yusof Noor said a systematic approach to develop wisdom as a behavior and skills was essential.

"I think universities will be the most suitable institutions to generate and create a new field of study to be known as 'Applied Wisdom'.

"I believed that it would improve all efforts to enhance stability and strengthen unity in our world," he said.

According to UIM statement, the two-day seminar organised by the university had received overwhelming response with participation of speakers from Algeria, Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The inaugural seminar is being carried out in three languages - Malay, English and Arabic - and aimed to compile contents for the first and second volumes of UIM Encyclopedia of Wisdom, which were expected to be released by end of 2019.

It focuses on two specialised themes - wisdom in thinking, writing and action of Easterners and wisdom from religious aspects of Islam, Christian, Buddha, Hindu, Confucius and Taoism.

Among the leading figures who delivered their keynote addresses today were Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, Chair of Islamic Leadership, Faculty of Leadership and Management, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, and Ahmad Keeler, Visiting Fellow of Islamic Studies Centre, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. - BERNAMA