Religious Affairs Ministry: Santri to be Agent for Religious Moderation Campaign

Jakarta, PPIM – Religious Affairs Ministry spokesman, Oman Fathurahman, said that santri (students of Islamic boarding schools), could be potential agents to promote religious moderation.

Oman was speaking on Friday (23/10) in a virtual seminar series of #ModerasiBeragama (Religious Moderation) themed “Santri as Pioneer of Religious Moderation”, which was organized by the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta through Convey Indonesia program.

“To be a moderate, it is required to not only have knowledge and good characters, but also to be able to carefully see what extremist thinking could be. Those are the values needed in implementing religious moderation,” Oman said, explaining why santri were considered as qualified agents for campaigns on religious moderation.

Based on his background as a santri in Tasikmalaya, West Java, Oman said those requirements were not difficult for the students, because they were trained to be humble, independent, friendly, mature in knowledge and most importantly, to love the country. Thus, he called on all santri, Kyai and Nyai from all over the country to always be on the frontline in spreading religious moderation.

“Having a religious moderation mindset does not mean to be liberal, and it does not make our faith any less. It is one way for us to be good servants of God and good human beings, so that we can create balance in life,” said Oman, who is also a lecturer from UIN Jakarta.

The virtual seminar on Religious Moderation is held every Friday via “Convey Indonesia” and “PPIM UIN Jakarta” official Youtube channels. The discussion, moderated by Convey Indonesian Team Leader Jamhari Makruf, also presented other speakers, such as Dito Alif Pratama, Founder of Santri Mengglobal Nusantara, and Kamilia Hamidah, a researcher on “The Resilience of Islamic Boarding Schools Against Radicalism” from Convey Indonesia.

Writer: Andita Putri Ghassani
Editor: Zhella Apriesta, M. Nida Fadlan