IO, Jakarta – Vice President Ma›ruf Amin has stated that Indonesia de˝ˇserves to be the center of a moderate and modern Islamic civilization. This statement is based on the fact that Indonesia is a democratic country with a majority of its citizens being Muslims. “All of the wealth and experience of Islam’s progress in Indonesia also contributed to the unity and integrity of our nation. It also turned Indonesia into a democratic country with the biggest number of Islamic citizens in the world. Therefore, Indonesia deserves to become referenced as a moderate and modern Islamic civilization,” Ma’ruf said in his keynote speech in the Expert Meeting of the Indonesian International Islamic University (Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia – “UIII”) titled “Seizing the Moment for Reinventing Muslim Civilization” held at Pullman Hotel, Jalan MH Thamrin, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday (26/11/2019). The event was attended by rectors and academicians from countries such as Morocco, Canada, Britain, Australia, and Tunisia. Also present was UIII’s Rector Komaruddin Hidayat, Directorate General of Islamic education Kamaruddin Amin, and Vice-Presidential Special Staff M. Nasir.
Ma’ruf stated that the effort for turning Indonesia into a reference for global Islamic civilization is feasible, among others by establishing research centers. “To turn Indonesia as a reference in studying Islamic civilization, we will need high-quality research and science centers. Therefore, we are establishing an advanced Islamic college, the UIII, with international quality and global reputation,” he said.
Ma’ruf urges UIII to approach Islamic studies by combining a normative study of Islamic religious knowledge (tafaqquh fid dîn) with the empirical study of living Islamic societies. “UIII is also expected to serve as the ambassador for promoting Indonesia as a reference for the compatibility of Islam with democracy, as well as global reference for the realization of Islam as rahmatan lil ‘alamiin or a blessing for the universe,” he said.
UIII is the first international-scale Islamic college in Indonesia. It is hoped to serve as a window that shows the global community the characteristics of Indonesian-style Islam. “Therefore, I hope that the experts and scholars who attend this event can provide input that will enrich the reference that we use for developing UIII in the future,” Ma’ruf said. “We expect UIII to generate Muslim experts, scientists, thinkers, and scholars with moderate, democratic, humanistic characteristics as well as having a global vision as its graduates. In this meeting, we can review the vision, curriculum, and human resources that will allow UIII to achieve this goal.” (Dan)