The centerpiece of these efforts is the Indonesian International Islamic University, the newest national university in the country, which was established under a national strategic project led by Widodo, with the aim of providing the highest quality of Islamic education in the world.
IIIU’s campus, located in the city of Depok, on the outskirts of Jakarta, is built on a tract of land measuring 142.5 hectares, 30% of which is occupied by buildings, with the rest covered in lush plant growth.
Although the university is Islamic by name, “we are open to [all] students. … We respect diversity, without segregation by race or religion,” IIIU Rector Komaruddin Hidayat said in a recent interview with Nikkei Asia.
The campus currently hosts four faculties: Islamic studies, social sciences, economics and business, and education. The plan is to add three more faculties in the future. It is currently a research-oriented institution offering only master’s and doctoral programmes but plans to add undergraduate programmes.
The faculty of economics and business teaches general economics, rather than teaching Shariah economics based on Islamic law. Professors have been hired from the Middle East, Europe and the US, in addition to Indonesia, and all classes are conducted in English or Arabic.
IIIU, whose faculties have a common aim of producing moderate Muslims, also incorporates a broad range of research from Indonesia, the Middle East, Europe and the US in its programmes. To provide balanced views, it also offers classes on non-Islamic subjects.
While the university provides high-level education, it has so far not proved easy for students to complete their classes. In the first year of opening, 1,000 students applied but only about 100 enrolled, of whom 20 have already dropped out.
“The Middle East has played a central role in Islamic education up to now,” Hidayat said. “With the opening of this university, we would like to make Indonesia an international hub” for Islamic education.
Producing moderate Muslims in Indonesia means reducing the number of radicals, who tend to want to eliminate other religions.
Indonesia has in the past experienced a series of tragedies resulting from terrorist acts by Islamic radicals. A 2002 terrorist attack in the island resort of Bali by operatives of Jemaah Islamiyah, a group based in Indonesia, killed more than 200 people. Domestic terrorist organisations, inspired by international terrorist organisations such as the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, have attacked government and other religious facilities. In 2017, a Catholic church and police station in Surabaya were attacked by Islamic State-affiliated suicide bombers, killing 13 people and leaving many wounded.
The Widodo administration is increasing crackdowns on Islamic radicals and at the same time working on programmes to develop human resources.
“We’d like to introduce democracy, which has taken root in Indonesia, into education and spread moderate Islam, which excludes extremism,” Hidayat said.
Its particular focus is on integration of Pancasila, or the five principles formulated by former Indonesian president Sukarno as a state philosophy, into IIIU’s education. The Pancasila, the national credo, stipulates diversity in the country.
Efforts like Indonesia’s to make Islam compatible with democracy are rarely found in the Islamic world, where many countries are regarded as being under authoritarian control by royal family members and religious leaders.
“Islam has essentially respected other religions and sought ways to coexist with them,” said Hidayat, who specialises in comparative religious studies. “The religion is highly compatible with democracy, which respects minority positions.”