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Towards religious tolerance throughreform in Islamic education: Thecase of the state institute of Islamicstudies of IndonesiaAbdullah Saeed aa Arabic and Islamic Studies Division Melbourne Instituteof Asian Languages and Societies, University of Melbourne,Parkville, Victoria, 3052, AustraliaPublished online: 01 Aug 2007.

To cite this article: Abdullah Saeed (1999): Towards religious tolerance through reform inIslamic education: The case of the state institute of Islamic studies of Indonesia, Indonesiaand the Malay World, 27:79, 177-191

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Indonesia and the Malay World, Vol. 27, No. 79, 1999

TOWARDS RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE THROUGHREFORM IN ISLAMIC EDUCATION: THE CASE OFTHE STATE INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES OFINDONESIA1

ABDULLAH SAEED

IntroductionPerhaps one of the most effective means of developing a culture of religious tolerance andrespect in a multi-religious, but predominantly Muslim society, is by reforming theeducation of its leaders—the imams and religious guides of the community. The imams,generally speaking, are graduates of traditional Islamic educational institutions. They arethe public face of Islam; the community relies on them for its understanding of what is oris not acceptable in religion. Their close relationships with their communities mean thatthey not only lead worship and teach, but are also often involved in communitydevelopment. Their religious training forms their view of the religious 'other' as friend orfoe, trustworthy or otherwise, and ultimately, contributes significantly towards shapingthe outlook of the community in relation to other faiths.

Education is seen as a key to changing attitudes. In the case of Islam, it is the Islamicworld view with its positive view or biases, prejudices, and suspicions of other systems,which colours the attitudes that believers take. Although historical, socio-political, andeconomic factors undeniably play a significant role in the formation of such attitudestoward the 'other', in a predominantly religious society it is often the religious factorwhich is seen to guide believers in tolerating, accepting, or rejecting difference. It isequally true that the 'alim (scholar of religion) or the imam is the one to whom theordinary Muslim often turns for guidance in matters of religion. It is for these reasonsthat many reformers of the modern Islamic period, such as Ahmad Khan, MuhammadAbduh, Muhammad Iqbal, Hassan al-Banna, Ismail Faruqi and Abu al-Ala Mawdudi,emphasized the importance of reform in Islamic education and often contributed to theestablishment of Islamic educational institutions.

This article focuses on a specific segment of the Islamic education sector in Indonesia:a state-funded institution of higher learning. Given the government's often problematicalrelationship with political Islam until 1998, caution would be quite understandable infocusing on a state project.2 In the case of reform achieved through the establishment ofthe State Institute of Islamic Studies of Indonesia (Institut Agama Islam Negeri—IAIN),however, the government's motives are open and twofold: (a) the development of a bodyof Muslim ulama who are at home with the 'modern ethos' and, as a result, are moredevelopment-oriented, progressive and tolerant; and (b) promotion of an apolitical Islam.As Federspiel says:

1363-9811/99/790177-15 ©1999 Editors, Indonesia and the Malay World

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178 Abdullah Saeed

The Nationalists [in government] have long been concerned withdeveloping a brand of religion that is compatible with Nationalistthinking and state direction. In such thinking, religion would offer deepmoral commitment, offer a progressive view of economic development,be no threat politically, and produce no ambiguity among its adherentsregarding ultimate loyalty to the stated

For this reason, it should be understood that IAIN, although the preferred and most widelyrecognized tertiary religious training institution for many Indonesian Muslims, faces somehostility from several segments of the Indonesian Muslim population. This segments isconsist mainly of the 'scripturalists', who believe that Islam is political and should play amajor role in Indonesian society and the state, and that the so-called 'modernisation' and'liberalisation' of religious outlook is essentially anti-Islam. The 'scripturalists' comefrom a variety of backgrounds: from Muhammadiyya and Dewan Dakwah as well asNahdlatul Ulama, three important Indonesian Islamic organizations. They control andadminister a large number of their own educational institutions, mainly at pre-tertiarylevel. Despite this, of the influence of the IAIN graduates, the Indonesian thinkerZamakhsyari Dhofier (1985) writes:

Graduates of these Institutes [IAIN] at present tend to become thenucleus of the urban Islamic social structure. Combined with manyIslamic social organisations based in cities and towns, such as theMuhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulama, Majelis Ulama Indonesia (theIndonesian Council of Muslim Scholars), Dewan Da'wah Indonesia (theIndonesian Council for Propagation of Islam), Dewan Masjid Indonesia(the Indonesian Council of Mosques), they relate the Indonesian Muslimcommunity to the wider Islamic world and define the nature oforthodoxy for it.

Categories of traditional Islamic educational institutions4

The IAIN of Indonesia belongs to the category of institutions with significant contactwith the 'modern ethos' (ME). For the purposes of understanding the context withinwhich IAIN functions, the three categories of traditional Islamic institutions (Tils) ofhigher learning are given on p. 179.

TIINs see no need for any integration of shari'ah sciences (SS) and 'modem ethos'(ME). They are generally past-oriented and exclusivist, with a corresponding disregard for'modern' approaches in teaching methods. On the other hand, TIISs consider that theymay gain from some knowledge of key areas of humanities and social sciences (KHSS),their motivation being the need to further Islamic missionary work, whether in theWestern world or elsewhere, where the Muslim missionary is likely to face competitionfrom non-Muslim, particularly Christian, missionaries. Contact with KHSS may alsooccur in societies where there is frequent interaction between Muslims and non-Muslims.ITISs stand between the TIINs and TIILs i outlook, teaching, and incorporation of KHSSinto the curriculum. They are more concerned with the present while valuing the past.

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Towards religious tolerance through reform in Islamic education 179

Category

TIINs: Tils with almost no contact-* with'modern ethos' in their shari'ah sciencesrelated academic programmes

TIIS: Tils with some contact with'modern ethos' in their shari'ah sciencesrelated academic programmes

TIILs: Tils with significant contact with'modern ethos' in their shari'ah sciencesrelated academic programmes

Example

Islamic University of Saudi Arabia;Deoband Seminary of India; Jami'aSalafiya of Pakistan

Imam Muhammad b. Saud Universityof Saudi Arabia; Azhar University ofEgypt

International Islamic University ofMalaysia; IAIN of Indonesia

The third group, TIILs, are actively engaged in understanding the modern world andKHSS, not only for missionary purposes but also to broaden the understanding ofMuslims about Islam—its place in history and in the modern period. This is also, tosome extent, to catch up with the West, which has outstripped the Muslim world invarious sciences in the past 200 years. TIILs are looking to produce graduates who areexperts in traditional shari'ah sciences and are, at the same time, at home in the modernworld, and can utilize KHSS to serve Islamic scholarship in a fruitful manner. Theprospectus of the International Islamic University of Malaysia's Department of IslamicRevealed Knowledge and Heritage describes the objectives of the department in this way:'To produce a new generation of scholars with an understanding not only of Islam and itsSciences (ulum), but also of contemporary social realities in order to find Islamicsolutions for contemporary problems of the ummah and of humanity'.

TIILs hold 'global' views on issues and tend to emphasize the socio-historical aspectsof Islam. They seek to adopt modern methods of teaching, value a degree of criticalthinking, teach analytical skills and problem solving, and attempt to employ Islamicscholarship to find new solutions to modern problems. In this they display a strongbelief in the importance of ijtihad (individual interpretation). This appears to be theapproach of the IAIN of Indonesia.

Tension between 'traditionalism' and the 'modern' in IndonesiaSince the establishment of classical schools of law and theology in the Islamic world,almost all Muslims have tended to adhere to a particular school, for instance, the Shafi'ior the Ash'ari school. Each school has continued to be seen by its members as the mostperfect expression of Islam. This means that, by the twentieth century, what is referred toin the literature as taqlid (imitation) was widespread. A by-product of this was thatreligious instruction came to be largely dogmatic, scripturalist, and imitative. It was alsointolerant of other views and avowedly territorial. The Indonesian case was no different in

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180 Abdullah Saeed

this regard. As in any other Muslim community, Islamic education in Indonesia, fromthe very beginning, emphasized legal and theological training through reading of selectedclassical texts, usually within the same legal or theological school.7

With the dominance of European powers in the colonial period and the introduction ofWestern models of education into the Muslim world, the traditional Islamic educationsystem, which had remained largely unchanged for several hundred years, faced a threat.The book-based curriculum (which had rejected the so-called 'rational' sciences), andoutmoded methods of teaching were unable to withstand the introduction of Westerneducation, with the result that religious education retreated further into obscurantism andisolationism. Realising the potential threat this widening gulf between the two systemsposed to the development of the Muslim ummah, many thinkers, such as MuhammadIqbal of India, Muhammad Abduh of Egypt, and Sayyid Ahmad Khan of India, argued forreform in the Islamic education system as a precondition for reform in other areas. Theseviews, although they did not have an immediate and significant impact on the Islamiceducation system at the time, certainly exerted influence later on.

Indonesia's religious education system resembled the rest of the Muslim world's with atraditional shari'ah sciences-based curriculum and traditional methods of teaching.Commenting on the rather unstructured nature of the curriculum of the religious educationsystem, Noer (1973: 14) writes:

It normally took a santri ten to fifteen years to acquire sufficientknowledge from this traditional method of instruction. Not many hadthe courage to endure the hardships and difficulties involved or hadenough perseverance to go through these long years. Many of themwithdrew from pesantren after a short time or after a few years of study,or moved to another pesantren with the hope that at this particularcentre or with this particular kijahi he would be able to acquire theneeded knowledge more speedily.

Indonesia, though considered to be on the 'periphery' of the Islamic world, was notimmune, however, from the currents of reformist thought in the area of Islamic educationThrough the annual pilgrimage to Makkah and, to a certain extent, through trade andtravel, Indonesians were in touch with the reformist movement in the Middle East,particularly in Arabia and Egypt (Noer 1973:226-27). Students who went on hajj, andremained in Makkah or went to Yemen or Egypt for study, would return to their homelandwith some of these ideas and would attempt to introduce them locally.8

Emergence of two systems of education: the 'religious' and the 'secular'The development of relatively modern Islamic education in Indonesia should be examinedin the context of Indonesia's national struggle for social and economic development. Thegrowth of a more modern form of Islamic education was bound to the national cause,guided by it, adapting to it, changing when the need arose. A connection may be seenbetween the development of relatively modern visions of Islamic education and the Dutchcolonial education policies of the early twentieth century.9 This policy of expansion of

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education at the beginning of the twentieth century witnessed a growth in the number of'secular' schools at all levels, from kindergarten to high school. These, along with theprivate and Christian missionary schools, provided a significant opportunity for thenatives to enrol their children, despite previous policies, which had favoured education forthe non-native population and a privileged few local-born people.

The Dutch education policy, with its emphasis on Western education at the expense ofIslamic education, led, in Indonesia, to the emergence of two distinct systems: one'traditional and Islamic' and the other 'modern and secular'. The policy could be seen as adeliberate attempt by the colonial power to arrest the influence of Islam and to provideemployment opportunities for those Muslims who were in concert with Western ways ofthinking. The differences between these two systems became more and more apparent,with the secular one being perceived as anti-Islamic. These differences between the'religious' bloc and the 'secular' bloc remained with the beginning of the Indonesianstruggle for independence. The religious bloc, which relied on Islam as a guiding force inthe national struggle for independence, sought a more influential role for Islam in publiclife, including politics and the law; whereas the secular bloc attempted to relegate religionto a mere personal relationship between an individual and God.

This division continued post-independence. The first president of Indonesia, Soekarno,though a secular nationalist, believed that Islamic values could be beneficial in the questfor development. Since the majority of the Indonesian population was Muslim and,historically, Indonesia has been a deeply religious community, the element of religion inthe development process in post-independence Indonesia could not be ignored. Aware ofthe conservative nature of Islamic religious education, Soekarno attempted reform via amajor government directed project: a new type of school, madrasah, combiningtraditional religious education with a broad general component. Soekarno's second mostimportant initiative in this regard was the facilitation of the founding of the InstitutAgama Islam Negeri—IAIN (State Institute of Islamic Studies).

Early attempts at establishing Islamic institutions of higher learning10

Attempts to establish Islamic institutions of higher learning in some form had been madeby a number of Indonesian scholars, albeit in limited numbers and with limited success.One such institute was established in 1940 under the name of Sekolah Islam Tinggi (SIT)(Higher Islamic School). A further Sekolah Islam Tinggi (SIT) was established in 1945in Yogyakarta by a number of prominent figures, including Muhammad Natsir,Muhammad Hatta, and Wahid Hasyim. This school later changed its name to UniversitasIslam Indonesia (Indonesian Islamic University) in 1948 with four faculties: Religion,Economics, Education, and Law.11 One of the reasons for establishing the SIT inYogyakarta was the need, as the founders saw it, for Indonesian Muslims to bridge the gapbetween religious education and the so-called secular sciences, which had each ignored theother. In the view of the founders of this SIT, it was essential for a modern Muslim togive due recognition to both areas of education, as both were essential for the developmentof the nation, materially and spiritually. This holistic view could only come about ifintegration between the two systems of education occurred, which would produce areligiously conscious modern people.

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182 Abdullah Saeed

The origins of IAINSince independence, both the secular and religious blocs have pursued their agenda ofgaining domination of the policymaking processes in Indonesia. The government, largelynationalistic and secular, has had to keep in mind the demands of both groups. Oneimportant decision the government made in relation to this, and with regard to education,was to give a 'gift' to both the nationalist and religious blocs.12 In 1950, it elevated theGadjah Mada University to a state university, to please the nationalists, and establishedPerguruan Tinggi Agama Islam Negeri—PTAIN (State Islamic Higher Learning Institute)for the Islamist bloc. Both were based in Yogyakarta, as the government had decided tokeep this city as a centre for higher education.

The origin of PTAIN goes back to the Faculty of Religion of the Universitas IslamIndonesia, that is, by separating this faculty from the University. By 1951, PTAIN hadthree departments: Dakwah (Islamic missionary work), Tarbiyah (Education), and Qadhd"(Jurisprudence). It taught a number of subjects in the area of traditional Islamicscholarship, including tafsir, hadith, kalam,fiqh, usul al-fiqh, akhlaq, Sufism, history,and some modern areas such as legal studies, culture, ethnology, sociology, economics.When PTAIN was established, it had very few models to follow. One model, and for thefounders of PTAIN perhaps the only one available, was that of al-Azhar, the oldestIslamic seminary which later was converted to a university during the presidency of GamalAbdel Nasser of Egypt in the 1950s and 1960s. Since historically Indonesians hadeducational links with Azhar, and it being the most famous institution for shari'ahsciences at the time, the Azhar model of structuring shari'ah sciences into faculties anddepartments was followed. Thus, faculties for Shari'ah (Law), Tarbiyah (Education),Da'wah (Preaching), and Lughah (Language) were established. The Azhar model provideda number of features: (i) preservation of 'tradition', (ii) focus on classical Islamicscholarship, (iii) non-critical study of the classical sources, (iv) a curriculum based onbooks (v) no emphasis on the critical/social/historical study of Islam, (vi) jealouspreservation of the 'purity' of Islamic scholarship, (vii) hostility towards Western modesof studying Islam, and (viii) a formulaic and legalistic approach to the study of Islam.With perhaps some modification, most aspects of this model and associated features werefollowed in the PTAIN. What was new from the beginning was the inclusion of someKHSS subjects.

The purpose of the PTAIN was to provide a channel by which Islamic education couldproduce graduates of Islamic Studies who would then meet the needs of the Muslims ofIndonesia for religious guidance, instruction in schools, religious activities, and in thegovernment. The PTAIN was followed by another interesting development. In 1957, theMinister for Religious Affairs established the Akademi Dinas Ilmu Agama—ADIA (StateAcademy for Religious Officials) in Jakarta. The objective of ADIA was to providegovernment officials with instruction in Islam and grant a qualification which wouldallow them to work as teachers of religion in public secondary schools, vocationalschools and religious schools. There were three departments at ADIA: Military ReligiousChaplains, Arabic Language, and Religious Education. The curriculum consisted oflanguage training, education-related subjects, culture (both Indonesian and Islamic) andtraditional shari'ah sciences.

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Towards religious tolerance through reform in Islamic education 183

Establishment of IAINIn order to consolidate Islamic higher education, the government in 1960 merged PTAINwith ADIA to form Institut Agama Islam Negeri—IAIN (State Institute of IslamicStudies) with its base in Yogyakarta and another branch in Jakarta. This provedsuccessful and popular, with demand for IAIN courses increasing rapidly in regions outsidethe first two cities. Many felt that, unlike the traditional pesantrens which offered aconservative and traditional curriculum, IAIN was offering something different, moremodern and more attractive. The government responded and allowed the proliferation ofIAINs. In 1963 it took the significant step of granting independent status to both theIAIN Yogyakarta (Sunan Kalijaga) and IAIN Jakarta (Syarif Hidayatullah). From that dateIAINs have proliferated throughout Indonesia.

The growth of IAINs continued well into President Soeharto's New Order period.Within the New Order, IAIN, like other government instruments and institutes, had to beco-opted into a united modernization and development process. Soeharto viewed withsuspicion any attempt to use Islam as a political force and also the use of Islamicinstitutions as bases for such movements. In order to co-opt IAIN into his broader agendaand to depoliticise it, he had to rely on a more modern cohort of Muslims who lackedpolitical bases and had a more 'modem' understanding of Islam and its role in a modemsociety. They would have a sound grasp of traditional Islam, would have studied and livedin the West and would be predisposed to view modern institutions and modernization itselfin a positive light. These people were to introduce a number of reforms into the IAIN,which would then become an agent of modernization and political stability. This meant aclear bias in favour of a more progressive Islam as opposed to the classical-traditional one.In this project, Soeharto's clear intention was to see the IAIN develop as a depoliticizedinstitution, away from any Mawdudi-Qutb model of political Islam and more towardsIslam as a moral-spiritual force.

Reform of IAINWith this in mind, a number of Muslims with the required progressive modem outlookwere given the task of reforming the IAIN further in their tenure as Ministers of ReligiousAffairs. The one first chosen to lead this reform was Mukti Ali (1971-77). He was anideal choice for Soeharto with his background of both traditional and Western education,and his belief that Islam was not essentially antipathetic to modernity and development.Mukti Ali, in turn, appointed like-minded Muslims to influential positions in theMinistry.13 He then began his task of changing the institution to change its graduateswho would carry a new outlook to the wider community. Other Ministers who pursuedthe project of reform after Mukti Ali were Alamsyah Ratuperwiranegara (1977-82),Munawir Sjadzali (1983-88), and Tarmizi Taher (1994-98).

The dichotomy between shari'ah sciences and rational sciences was very much thefoundation of traditionalist Islamic learning. For Mukti Ali, this dichotomy could notcontinue if there was to be integration between the two apparently conflicting visions ofeducation. Such a goal at the time was ambitious given the strength of traditionalistIslamic education establishment in Indonesia. Based on his experiences as a student inPakistan and Canada, Mukti Ali believed that the best path to change would be to expose

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184 Abdullah Saeed

the traditionally trained graduates to Western critical methods of inquiry, and to encouragethem to do two things: to look at Islam from a more critical viewpoint, and to attempt tounderstand Islam within a social and historical context. Such a course of action wasbound to expose issues of permanence and change, immutability and mutability, theuniversal and the particular, the absolute and relative in Islamic law, ethics, morality,institutions, and world view. In short, the ulama were to experience a broader spectrumof Islamic scholarship beyond the confines of Ash'an theology and Shafi'i law, studyingother major currents of thought in classical Islamic scholarship such as that of Hanafi,Hanbali, Maliki, and Ja'fari law and Mu'tazili and Shi'i thought. Added to this were to becourses of KHSS and critical thinking.

A guiding philosophyThough Mukti Ali was the initiator of the reform project, the later Ministers of ReligiousAffairs shared his philosophy and plan for reform. Hence, the reform agenda describedbelow should be attributed to all four as well as other senior figures appointed by theMinister to undertake the project at IAINs, for example Professor Harun Nasution. MuktiAli believed that only Muslim intellectuals who accepted that Islam was essentiallymodern, and who recognized the importance of reason in the interpretation of Islamictexts, had a part to play in the new environment.

The reform agenda was guided by a particular philosophy that stressed that Islam wasnot incompatible with modernity and that it could provide a vision of a prosperous future.Mukti Ali also believed that Islam could play a part in such institutions as a democracy,or a 'nation-state'. Further, Islam fostered tolerance and pluralism. This new view,espoused by the Ministry of Religious Affairs as an instrument of national development,emphasized aspects of Islam in the fostering of which education was to play a major role.Differences within Islam between groupings (theological, legal, religio-political) shouldnot be a source of discord but recognition of strength in diversity. Islam was notreactionary, nor did a Muslim society require a theocratic Islamic state. A morecomprehensive, system-oriented approach to the nation's social and moral developmentwas needed. Finally, the role of ijtihad was to provide solutions to problems that couldnot be solved solely by returning to the foundation texts; a distinction was to be madebetween the sacred nature of the texts and the less sacred nature of their interpretation.

On the basis of this philosophy, Mukti Ali aimed to change the IAIN to a modeminstitution of Islamic learning, whose graduates would be open-minded agents ofmodernization, able to change the traditional outlook of Indonesian Muslims. Such aphilosophy was essential for guiding the direction of change and was derived in part fromthe national development objectives and in part from a reinterpretation of Islamic values.

Top-down agendaWith a top-down agenda directed by the State, reform was imposed on the IAIN. Itsoutcome was the transformation of a traditional outlook into a relatively modern andconfident one, with little, if any, inferiority complex on the part of many IAIN graduates.This is a positive example of social and religious engineering and it succeeded, relatively

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Towards religious tolerance through reform in Islamic education 185

speaking, in the IAIN context in Indonesia for a number of reasons. Unlike the greatArab civilizations of the 'golden' period, which form an essential part of the historical andcontemporary identity and consciousness of Middle Eastern Muslims, Indonesia had hadno such golden period and Islam had arrived relatively late. The resulting absence of along line of well-known institutions of Islamic higher learning meant that, in historicalterms, the Muslims of Indonesia were rather free in identifying with Islam in their ownway.

The top-down strategy worked well, particularly in a society so diverse ethnically,linguistically, and religiously. Even for the ulama, the diversity of their social andpolitical power bases, personal ambitions, and rivalries would have prevented them fromcoming to terms with a unified developmental effort requiring a holistic and unifiedapproach, had there not been the top-down agenda. The government controlled fundingand influenced decision-making and the direction the IAIN system was taking. Thegovernment also influenced the appointment of key figures within the IAIN system inorder to see that reform objectives were met.

Integrated curriculum designIAIN reformers took a positive view of Western civilization and thought. Theyrecognized that Muslims were lagging behind the West, in terms of intellectual, social,political, and economic development, by several hundred years. The Western world was tobe studied and benefited from. Unlike some Muslims, who view the West and Westerncivilization in a fairly hostile manner, Indonesians tend to be more accommodating andflexible in their approach. Many of today's IAIN students, particularly in Jakarta andYogyakarta, are of the view that one must study modern philosophy and thought,including modern social sciences, and they express confidently their admiration of theWest. Whereas in other traditional Islamic institutions elsewhere it would be unusual tofind any course on modern philosophy, and names like Kant, Husserl, Heidegger, andGadamer would be rarely heard, many IAIN students appear to read them, some widely.Moreover, many IAIN students are attracted to Muslim scholars of liberal views, andworks by thinkers such as Fazlur Rahman, Muhammed Arkoun, Muhammed al-Jabiri,Hassan Hanafi are studied. It would even appear that the more traditionalist the students'backgrounds, as in the case of IAIN students from a Nahdlatul Ulama background, themore likely they are to read such works.

The integrated curriculum offers systematic instruction in both shari'ah sciences andKHSS. Each undergraduate course at the IAIN has three basic components: institutional,faculty, and departmental. The institutional component is a basic course to be taken byall students. This may include subjects on Pancasila, basic military knowledge, Islamicstudies, general philosophy, basic social and natural sciences, and languages (Indonesian,Arabic, and English). From this basic course students move to the faculty component,and from there to a professional specialized course at departmental level.

Unlike the traditional Islamic institutions where the subject Islamic Studies is stilltaught strictly within the context of Islam and is insulated from any encroachment bymodern social sciences, the IAIN has attempted to include these areas in almost all of itsprogrammes. While it adopts a somewhat traditionalist approach to Islamic Studies, it

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goes beyond this to a considerable degree. Even in the basic programme, which all IAINstudents must take, there are six KHSS related subjects compared to three Islamic Studiessubjects. Similarly, in the Department of Comparative Religions, almost all subjects ateapparently KHSS subjects; the same applies to the Department of Aqidah. It is only inthe Departments of Tafsir and Hadith that most subjects are from Islamic Studies. TheFaculty of Ushuluddin (Islamic Theology) shows the balance between KHSS and IslamicStudies subjects.

The course structure of the Faculty of Ushuluddin (Islamic Theology) of IAIN SyarifHidayatullah, Jakarta

The Basic CoursePhilosophy of Sciences; Islamic Philosophy; Tauhid (Islamic Theology)

Logic; Science of History; History of Religion; Modern Thought in Islam; Sociology;Anthropology

Department of Comparative ReligionComparative Religion; Philosophy of Religion; Sociology of Religion; Religious

Psychology; Social Psychology; Orientalism; Hinduism; Buddhism; Judaism;Christology; Javanese Traditional Culture; Methodology of Comparative Religion

Department of Aqidah (Islamic Theology and Philosophy)Philosophy of Religion; Modern Philosophy; Eastern Philosophy; Philosophy of Values;Philosophy of Morality; Philosophy of Logic; Human Philosophy; Religious Sociology;The Development of Modern Theology; Javanese Traditional Culture; Islamic Mysticism

Department of TafsirTafsir; Hadith; Ulum al-Qur'an; Ulum al-Hadith; Mazahib Tafsir; Rijal al-Hadith;

Orientalism

Source: IAIN. The State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Syarif Hidayatullah—JakartaInformation booklet, 1997.

Exposure of graduates to critical methods of inquiryA priority of the reformers was that graduates of IAIN should be exposed to other systemsof education and learning, an important acquisition in an increasingly global community.Remaining within one's own culture only and knowing nothing about other cultures andsystems of thought is dangerous in an increasingly small globalized community.Historically, Islamic institutions have remained a closed community, averse to any non-Islamic, or even Islamic works seen to be 'deviant' in the view of the teachers andgovernors. Thus a student in the Islamic University of Madina would not have theopportunity there to study in depth the Mu'tazilite theology, or the philosophy of IbnSina or al-Farabi, or the works of Ibn Arabi, on the grounds that these are 'deviant' anddraw a Muslim away from the 'true' religion. Similarly, various works by Orientalists

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Towards religious tolerance through reform in Islamic education 187

on Islam are avoided. Ignaz Goldziher, the influential Orientalist scholar whose works onhadith transmission have largely laid the foundation for critical studies of hadith inWestern universities, would not be known at many Islamic universities. Such works aredismissed on three grounds: (a) the authors are non-Muslim and, however profound theirscholarship, by definition they do not have any positive value for Muslims; (b) theseWestern scholars do not understand Islamic scholarship, or their linguistic and culturalskills do not allow them to interpret and comment on shari'ah sciences in any way thatwould benefit the ummah; (c) the Orientalist tradition in the West is essentially anti-Islamic and is largely a Western supported, Judaeo-Christian attempt to destroy Islam.

Such a segregation of shari'ah sciences from both KHSS and the works of Orientalistscholars has not been acceptable to the reformers of the IAIN. Graduates have beenexpected to study, albeit at a basic level, areas such as: critical works by Orientalists; theso-called 'deviant' literature of philosophy, mysticism, and theology; the study of Islam,particularly early Islam, from a social-scientific point of view. Further, a number ofIAINs offer the opportunity to pursue in-depth study at postgraduate level.

Teaching methods fostering critical analysisThe fact that a curriculum has been designed incorporating Islamic and other areas oflearning will not itself lead to integration. One means of integration, which should beused skilfully, is teaching methods. Teaching in Tils, particularly in the last 300 years orso, has effected the transfer of knowledge by way of exposition, explanation of difficultwords and ideas, study of books, and rote learning. Since Islam is studied as somethingdistinct from the religious community, which professes it, the religion has come to beequated with the content of the books unrelated to any historical community. Thisseparation of religion from its practice, and the belief that teaching is studying books andthat the student is there to receive information and knowledge from the master-teacher,with due reverence shown to early authorities, have led to a mentality among the graduatesof Tils of narrow-mindedness, pedantry, and pride in the skill of memory. Such a rigidattitude was seen by the IAIN reformers as a dangerous one that had to be changed. Thekey strategy was a radical shift in the meaning of teaching and an overhaul of the keypillars of what was considered to be valid practice. Teaching and learning at IAIN can beface-to-face, by structured assignment (book reports, research papers), and by independentstudy. More importantly, students are required to undertake fieldwork as well as researchpractice, and thesis or dissertation writing.

Teaching is no longer solely transmission of knowledge, or exposition of difficulttexts. Curriculum is not equivalent to 'books'. Nowadays at the IAIN, particularly atgraduate level, the teacher often takes the role of transmitter of knowledge that may bequestioned by the student. The teacher's role is the facilitation of critical discussion on anissue, the exploration of the link between the issue and society, not seeking one correctanswer but exploring all possible aspects to the problem. Such teaching also assumesthat teacher and students have the necessary skills and are relatively sophisticated in theirmastery of the subject-matter and related areas of learning. There is evidence to suggestthat this is already happening at the undergraduate level at IAIN, and that it is the norm atsome postgraduate level programmes, such as that of IAIN in Ciputat, Jakarta.

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188 Abdullah Saeed

Freedom to teach and discussWithin the IAIN context, students and lecturers are given considerable freedom to exploreand discuss ideas, even though they may not be in line with the traditionally accepteddogma. The less orthodox views of Ibn Arabi, the excesses of Sufism, the 'heterodox'theology of Mu'tazilites, for example, are studied, lectured on, discussed, and openlyportrayed as acceptable. There is no censorship of this discourse and students are notcriticized for expressing what appear to be extreme views that may not be palatable inmany other Islamic universities. Further examples include open discussions on changingthe law of inheritance, the notion of zakat as tax, and the essential validity of a number ofreligions like Christianity and Judaism. The community of the IAIN tend to be moreaccommodating and tolerant, such tolerance, certainly from the government's point ofview, being strongly encouraged as it is the policy and philosophy of the State.Academics are able to express scholarly or personal views that would be suppressedelsewhere in the Islamic world. For the reformers of IAIN, such suppression isunacceptable and would appear to be a sign of weakness. This spirit tends to pass on tothe IAIN students who in turn translate it into practice.

A positive result of the IAIN approach has been the gradual lessening of intra-Islamicand inter-religious sectarianism among its graduates. Historically, Indonesian Islam ischaracterized by its adherence to the Shafi'i school of law and the Ash'ari school oftheology. A number of factors have led to a gradual decline in adherence to particularschools in the late twentieth century, including in Indonesia. One of the key contributorsin this has been the policy on the part of IAIN of introducing the study of othertheological or legal schools from their adherents' viewpoint. Hence, a student wouldstudy schools of law such as those of Hanballs, Hanafis, Malikis, and Ja'faris. Thestudent would also be exposed to the theological schools of Ash'ari s and Maturidis, tovarious Sufi tariqas, their systems, their views, and their texts, or to other religions suchas Christianity. This approach has meant a gradual relaxation of what is Islamicallyacceptable, and the move to a broader and less constrained understanding of valid Islamicbelief and practice. Similarly, other religions are studied from the perspective of theiradherents, rather than to show the supremacy of Islam. At IAIN, visiting Christiantheologians, at times, give lectures or conduct seminars. Again, such close contact withand exposure to other religions mean a gradual decline in mutual fear and a realization thatevery faith is valid to its followers. The fostering of such tolerance and harmony is inline with national goals of security, stability and development.

Teaching methods alone do not produce this integration. Another related factor is whatmay be called the emergence of a 'culture of study circles'; a traditional institution withgreat vitality, which, if approached openly, can release the intellectual curiosity of youngscholars. These circles tend to be less formal; students are free to raise any issue anddiscuss it thoroughly, in an open-minded manner. At the IAIN, such circles are becomingan important institution, particularly in Jakarta and Yogyakarta. These circles ateorganized by the students themselves, who are keen to face such problems and findsolutions to them without being confined to a particular interpretation of a theologian orscholar.

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Towards religious tolerance through reform in Islamic education 189

Appropriate political support for integrationThe official philosophy of the State, at least as regards religion, is that tolerance ofdiversity is essential to stable development. The IAIN is expected to embrace thisphilosophy. Because of the delicate issue of stability, any promotion of religiousintolerance could generate a backlash from other groups, mainly Christians both Catholicand Protestant, who are generally seen to be in the upper socio-economic bracket and tohave a relatively powerful and supportive bloc in the government. Though Muslims are inthe majority, the perceived privileged position of the non-Muslim groups would no doubtmake tolerance a sensitive issue. Though Pancasila or its interpretation may have stifledpolitical discourse, it may have had a beneficial effect on religious tolerance and discourse.One result of this is that Muslims and non-Muslims form a number of non-governmentorganizations (NGOs), in which they work together. The adoption of Pancasila by theIAIN as its official policy also means that, through its teaching, research, andparticipation in the community, the State philosophy will be absorbed by the students.

Concluding remarksThe reform project of the IAIN may be seen as an example of how an essentiallytraditionalist Islamic institution of higher learning is transformed into an institution witha modern outlook, able to successfully integrate both shari'ah and 'modern ethos' (ME).Though reform and a form of integration have been on the agenda of many Islamiccountries, their achievement has proved rather elusive. Often the strategies adopted byreformers have been unsuitable, or attempts at reform have been made without a clearguiding philosophy. In the case of the IAIN of Indonesia, the strategies adopted, themeasures taken, and the clear articulation of the philosophy behind the reform agenda haveled to positive results. While not yet complete, with IAINs undertaking reform atdifferent rates, the example of Jakarta and Yogyakarta, particularly within their graduateprogrammes, shows what may be achieved.

Using the IAIN as a model, integration of shari'ah sciences with ME can be achievedwith the combination of a modern mindset and curriculum, and sound Islamic scholarship.Such reform should take place in a teaching-learning context that encourages criticalthinking, reflection, problem-solving, and creativity, in a non-threatening environmentand guided by scholars who have a solid foundation in Islamic scholarship and at the sametime are at ease with the modern world and global culture. Such integration is unlikely tooccur unless there is positive theological leadership within a clear political and intellectualenvironment. This integration must be informed by an understanding of social change,religious tolerance, and its connection to national development.

Arabic and Islamic Studies DivisionMelbourne Institute of Asian Languages and SocietiesUniversity of MelbourneParkvilleVictoria 3052Australia

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Notes1. This article relies heavily on interviews and observations conducted in 1996 and 1997 withHarun Nasution of IAIN, Azyumardi Azra of IAIN, Mukti Ali of IAIN, Munawir Sjadzali, theformer Minister of Religious Affairs, Nurcholish Majid of Paramadina as well as lecturers andpostgraduate students of IAIN, Jakarta.2. Although the term 'Indonesia' strictly speaking should be used for the post-independenceperiod, I will be using the term for the territory which comprises Indonesia in the pre-independence period as well.3. H. M Federspiel. Popular Indonesian literature of the Qur'an. Ithaca: Cornell ModernIndonesia Project. Southeast Asian Program, Cornell University, 1994, 26.4. Definition of some of the terms used in this paper: 'Traditional Islamic Institutions (TII)' areinstitutions where traditional shari'ah sciences such as tafsir, hadith,fiqh, usul al-fiqh, tawhid,falsafah, shari'ah, and Arabic are taught to a level above that of High School. 'Shari'ahsciences (SS)' refers to areas such as tafsir, hadith,fiqh, usul al-fiqh, tawhid, falsafah, shari'ah,and Arabic.

'key areas of humanities and social sciences (KHSS)' refers to a number of disciplines inhumanities and social sciences such as philosophy, cultural studies, religious studies,sociology and anthropology.5. 'Contact' here means inclusion of subjects and material related to the understanding of'modern ethos' such as sociology, anthropology, philosophy, linguistics, semiotics, culturalstudies, religious studies.6. International Islamic University prospectus 1995, 88.7. Noer (1973: 10).8. One such figure was Abdullah Ahmad who went to Makkah to perform hajj in 1895 andstudied in Makkah for a number of years. He returned to West Sumatra and established theAdabiyyah school, a modern school with religious instruction. IAIN (CENSIS), 1996 [a]:8.9. Dhofier (1985: 23).10. Since this paper deals with higher education institutions only, reforms in the area ofschool-level Islamic education undertaken by a number of Indonesians in the late nineteenthand early twentieth centuries are ignored.11. IAIN (CENSIS), 1996 [a]:17.12. IAIN (CENSIS), 1996 [a]:5.13. Mukti Ali appointed a number of Islamic/Western-educated Muslims to influentialpositions in the ministry and the IAIN: Harun Nasution (Ph.D., McGill) as the Rector of IAIN,Jakarta; Anton Timur Dhaelani (M.A. McGill): Director General, Development of IslamicInstitutions; and Muljanto Sumardi (Ph.D., Columbia) Director for the Development of IslamicHigher Learning Institutions. By these appointments Mukti Ali intended to direct his reformagenda, that is, to change the way Indonesians generally thought about the relationshipbetween religion and society, through the graduates of IAIN.

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