Tolerance and Diversity are Built through Efforts and Modesty

IL News 011/2021

“The character of tolerance, peace, and diversity is not free, yet it has to be cultivated and requires modesty.”

The Rector of Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta, Prof. Dr. Al Makin.

Jakarta, November 16, 2021 – Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta and Institut Leimena collaborated to hold an international program for the capacity building of madrasah and pesantren teachers in Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy (LKLB).

The program, which was held virtually on 8-12 November 2021, was attended by 201 teachers from 25 provinces including Aceh, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Maluku, West Nusa Tenggara, and West Papua.

The Rector of UIN Sunan Kalijaga, Prof. Dr. Phil. Al Makin, MA said that the character of tolerance, peace, and diversity is not free, but it has to be cultivated and requires modesty.

“It needs struggle to be a person with tolerance, peace, diversity. It is not free. On the other hand, if you want to be fanatic, radical, fundamentalist, opposing diversity, the only condition is that you don’t need to learn and forget all virtues, close your heart tightly, and follow your own ego,” said Prof Al Makin in his keynote speech, Monday (8/11/2021).

Prof. Al Makin stated that diversity and tolerance are not theories, yet it should be practiced concretely upon daily friendships with different people.

According to the professor of philosophy, learning others’ religions and beliefs must be from people who believe in them, so there is no suspicion.

“I have been practicing it (interfaith friendship) for seven years, and alhamdulilah, the results are great. People who make friends with those who have different faith, their heart is more relieved, humbler, more sincere, and open,” he said.

Prof. Al Makin said that tolerance means not only accepting other people but also demonstrating commitment to understand, protecting their rights, and even guarding them when they are under threat. It means that tolerance is basically reciprocal (mutual).

“Either a peace or war holds a price to pay. When houses of worship are banned and minority groups are persecuted, the price follows behind, Indonesia will collapse. If you want peace, the price lies forward. What’s the price? Reduce the ego, be humbler, and don’t just talk but listen,” continued Prof Al Makin.

The Dean of Faculty of Ushuluddin and Islamic Thought, UIN Sunan Kalijaga, Dr. Inayah Rohmaniyah, MA said that the teacher training program in LKLB is in line with the vision and mission of the Faculty of Ushuluddin, UIN Sunan Kalijaga, which is to become an excellent and leading faculty in development and ushuluddin for civilization.

He realizes that madrasah in the context of civilization development plays a very central role, even it becomes the pillar of the nation.

“We are delighted to be able to join hands with Institut Leimena together to create a community, the young future generation as the determinants of the nation’s future. It is very much in line with the vision and mission of our faculty, which is to color civilization,” said Dr. Inayah.

A number of participants in the teacher capacity building program in LKLB

Correspondingly, the Executive Director of Institut Leimena, Matius Ho, explained that LKLB becomes increasingly important and relevant, especially for teachers. It is undeniable that technological advances have removed the barriers of distance, even time, so that all people with different backgrounds can interact with one another.

“As a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, I totally agree that madrasah and pesantren are highly prominent, even they need to go global. This program is the first step that needs to be developed, so foreigners can see that madrasah and pesantren are essentially the keys to religious harmony in Indonesia,” said Matthew.

A lecturer of Islamic Philosophy at UIN Sunan Kalijaga, Dr. Fahruddin Faiz, said that LKLB training basically revives the good potentials that humans have as the creatures of God.

He encouraged the participants to have a transformative life orientation, which is to keep improving personal quality so that it does not only generate personal impact but also benefits to the surrounding environment.

“Live with personal orientation to live better. Because I’m getting better, my environment is also getting better,” said Fahruddin, who is commonly popular as Ustadz Youtuber.

The current international program of capacity building for madrasah and pesantren teachers in this LKLB consists of teacher trainings and alumni programs in the form of international webinars, upgrading courses, and competitions. The collaboration between Institut Leimena and UIN Sunan Kalijaga in this program is initiated to reconduct by inviting different participants at the end of November 2021. (IL/Chr)