The Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Prof. Dr. K.H. Nasaruddin Umar (white shirt), received an audience from Senior Fellow of Institut Leimena and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia in 1999–2001, Dr. Alwi Shihab (center), and Executive Director of Institut Leimena, Matius Ho.
Jakarta, LKLB News – The Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia (Minister of Religious Affairs RI), Prof. Dr. K.H. Nasaruddin Umar, held an audience with Senior Fellow of Institut Leimena, Dr. Alwi Shihab, and Executive Director of Institut Leimena, Matius Ho, at the office of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Jalan Lapangan Banteng, Jakarta, Friday (1/11/2024). In this audience, the Minister of Religious Affairs encouraged the development of the Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy (CCRL) program which up to now has graduated 9,160 teachers and educators from 37 provinces in Indonesia.
“What we have initiated together can be continued and developed because it greatly helps this nation,” said Minister Nasaruddin in the audience which lasted nearly one hour.
The Istiqlal Mosque, which is currently also led by Minister Nasaruddin as the Grand Imam, is one of the early partners of Institut Leimena in the implementation of the CCRL program which began in 2021. The CCRL program collaboration between Istiqlal Mosque and Institut Leimena has been carried out in 11 classes with the number of graduates from Istiqlal Mosque reaching 1,400 people consisting of teachers, ulama cadres, and religious instructors.
“The CCRL program also needs to be accommodated for teachers in Islamic boarding schools, as has been carried out by Institut Leimena together with Asadiyah Islamic Boarding School and Al-Ikhlas Islamic Boarding School in South Sulawesi,” said Minister Nasaruddin.
The audience between Institut Leimena and the Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Nasaruddin Umar, mainly discussed hopes for interfaith relations in Indonesia, especially in the field of education.
Meanwhile, Alwi Shihab said the CCRL approach strengthens the policy of religious moderation which is a priority of the Indonesian government. The CCRL approach can become a pedagogy of the concept of religious moderation.
“Here there is already a program of religious moderation which is actually very much in line with CCRL so that they can be married,” said Alwi, who was Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia in 1999–2001 and Special Envoy of the President of the Republic of Indonesia for the Middle East and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in 2015–2019.
Alwi explained that the CCRL program trains teachers to develop harmonious interaction, mutual respect, and positive collaboration across religions. According to him, intolerance still thrives in Indonesia not solely because of hatred, but because of misunderstandings of religious teachings. That is why CCRL becomes increasingly important to be delivered to teachers so that they can pass it on to students as future leaders of the nation.
“Teachers are at the forefront of protecting their communities from the influence of religious intolerance and extremism. Unfortunately, we observe that the rise of radicalism in educational institutions is related to models of interpretation, understanding, and teaching, as well as certain schools of thought,” said Alwi Shihab.
In this audience, Institut Leimena also conveyed congratulations on the inauguration of Prof. Nasaruddin Umar as Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.
In the audience, Alwi also conveyed congratulations on the inauguration of Minister Nasaruddin Umar.
“We convey our congratulations and in fact have felt your leadership all this time for the benefit of all religious communities. May God grant you broad spirit in carrying out your duties as Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia,” said Alwi.
Executive Director of Institut Leimena, Matius Ho, also conveyed a similar hope. Matius welcomed the plan for the development of the CCRL program with encouragement from the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, including the implementation of the CCRL international webinar series.
“All of us at Institut Leimena are extraordinarily rejoiced and extend our congratulations to you. God has placed you for the sake of the nation,” said Matius.