INDONESIAN GOV’T FINALIZES PLAN TO ESTABLISH INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY

Prof. Dr. Nur Syam

Jakarta, 21 Muharram 1437/3 November 2015 (MINA) – Indonesian Islam should come forward to lead the world in view of the continuing war and chaos in the heart of Islam in the Middle East since the Iraq War.

Indonesian Islam is the best example of how Islam can become a locomotive for the growth of democracy and progress, a high ranking official said.

Looking ahead, there must be an institution that can address the challenges of the times and  they are precisely at stake in the hands of Indonesian Islam. “Nothing else to do instead of establishng as soon as possible an iconic higher education having a broad range of insight and in-depth study on Islam,” Secretary General of the Religious Affairs Ministry Prof. Dr. Nur Syam said.

To that end, the Government intends to establish the International Islamic University or also called Graduate University of Islamic Studies (GUIs) because as a nation with the largest Muslim community in the world, it is natural for the country to set it up.

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The ministry in a release posted on its website, kemenag.go.id, on Monday, said some officials had gathered at the
official residence of the Vice President, Jusuf Kalla, on Thursday (29/10) for further discussion of the planned establishment of the International Islamic University (UII).

Present at the event was Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Minister for Religious Affairs Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, Minister of Technology, Research and Higher Learning Institute Muhammad Nasir, Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform yuddy Chrisnandi, Deputy Foreign Minister Muhammad Fachir, Secretary of Vice Presient Mohammad Oemar,  Nur Syam, Director General of Islamic Education Kamaruddin Amin, and
Bappenes Deputy Subandi.

Also attending the meeting experts of various disciplines, for example Komaruddin Hidayat, Bachtiar Effendi, Marsudi Syuhud (NU), Imam Addaruquthni (Muhammadiyah), Quraish Shihab, Alwi Shihab,  Jimly Asshiddiqie, and a number of other Muslim intellectuals.

According to Nur Syam, one of the important things discussed in the meeting is that the International Islamic University was designed to be an icon for the development of Islamic studies, it will only develop strata two and three programs.

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This university with such particular programs, he said, is expected to produce qualified and progressive insight experts in research on Islamic sciences. “The Graduate University of Islamic Studies (GUIS) will not  emphasize on the number of graduates it produces, but on the quality of its graduates. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)

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