Saudi Arabia and Indonesian Networks: Migration, Education, and Islam By Sumanto Al Qurtuby

Abstract

This study investigates a specific type of transregional ties, namely those between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia in the field of education. While the title refers to the current nation-states, Al Qurtuby’s study offers a longue-durée perspective by integrating the centuries-old tradition of Muslim pilgrimage in combination with prolonged periods of study in the holy cities and other nodes of the pilgrimage route. Such alternative Muslim centres of learning, most notably in Yemen, Egypt and Turkey, also re-appear from time to time in the narrative, thus widening the scope of the study beyond its main subject matter. Al Qurtuby sets the scene by first providing an overview of Arabian–Indonesian relations, starting from the pilgrimage and traditional Islamic learning that has expanded to Indonesians attending many different types of educational institutions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He also refers to the large-scale labour migration to the Peninsula that has impacted on the otherwise positive image of Indonesians who, until the 1980s, had been mostly perceived as students of Islam. Finally, he broaches the topic of the current diplomatic rapprochement marked by the visit of Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Riyadh in 2015 and the return visit, in 2017, by King Salman in Jakarta. The author concludes this overview by emphasizing education, religion and employment as the main motives of Indonesians to travel to Saudi Arabia.