From Politics to Education: Nurcholish Madjid and the Reform of Education In Indonesia

Mushlihin Amali

doi:10.21009/003.1.02

Abstract

This paper attempts to understand Nurcholish Madjid’s Islamic education reform. After the death of Nurcholish Madjid, his education appears as a significant human capital investment which might become the instrument which constantly keep Nurcholish Madjid’s legacies alive, developed, and disseminated through times. Apart from this fact, Nurcholish Madjid’s Islamic education reform has not been yet the main focus of previous researches. Focusing on Nurcholish Madjid’s Islamic education reform, this paper looks at the educational activities of Nurcholish Madjid mainly in IAIN-UIN Jakarta and Paramadina. In this regards, this paper investigates Nurcholish Madjid’s Islamic education reform and the contexts within which it was developed. This investigation provides an insight to the discussion of the subject which tries to answer the questions of what kind of ideas which were developed by Nurcholish Madjid to reform Islamic education in Indonesia; how he defined, interpreted, and applied the ideas for the development of Islamic education in Indonesia. Eventually this paper suggests that in teaching and understanding Islam, Nurcholish Madjid obviously treated Islam not only as a religion, but also as a historical, sociological, and anthropological phenomenon which must be studied in an open, democratic, participatory, pluralistic, and inclusive way.

Highlights

Speaking, both politics and education, in an appreciably different degree, colored Nurcholish Madjid‟s career both as an intellectual and reformer
Franz Magnis-Suseno remarked that Nurcholish Madjid was the first Islamic figure in Indonesia, and probably in the world, who successfully developed a modern concept on the position of religion in the state (Magnis-Suseno, 2005)
In line with the unintended consequences of education and in attempts to broaden the scope of the religious studies at the IAIN, Nurcholish Madjid, with employing the social science approaches, such as anthropological, sociological, and historical approaches, to Islamic studies, tried to relate them to broad contemporary issues, such as gender, civil society, democracy, and human rights

Summary

Introduction

Both politics and education, in an appreciably different degree, colored Nurcholish Madjid‟s career both as an intellectual and reformer. In line with the unintended consequences of education and in attempts to broaden the scope of the religious studies at the IAIN, Nurcholish Madjid, with employing the social science approaches, such as anthropological, sociological, and historical approaches, to Islamic studies, tried to relate them to broad contemporary issues, such as gender, civil society, democracy, and human rights. By such doing, the study at the IAIN was no longer strictly restricted to and concentrated on religious studies which much oriented to textual and fiqh studies. Nurcholish Madjid was viewed as one of the vanguards who successfully led a broad society to first recognize various new and fresh Islamic ideas and thought which developed at the IAIN (Jabali & Jamhari, 2002)

Nurcholish Madjid and Paramadina

Courses and Lectures

Friday Sermon and Dialogue

Paramadina Executive Programme

Conclusion