W

hile Islamic teachings promote inclusion of everyone regardless of their background and condition, it appears that, unlike their secular counterparts, Islamic education institutions have yet to accommodate students with disabilities.

Ridwan Effendi, 40, from Bandung, West Java, beat the odds when he accepted his doctoral degree at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta last August. Ridwan is blind.

He enrolled in the university’s Arabic department in 2010 and wrote a dissertation on an active learning method of the Arabic language for the blind.

Ridwan, who has been blind since elementary school, previously earned his bachelor and master’s degrees at UIN Sunan Gunung Djati in Bandung.

Despite his claims that the university’s policy did not hinder him during his studies for his latest degree, Ridwan said he was still bothered by basic things. “One of the inconvenience occurred when I wanted to read something, where I would need a computer or help from reading service providers to read me books, journal articles or test questions,” he told The Jakarta Post.

He added that the hindrance was usually solved by going to the campus’ language center that provided students with the service they need. “I was lucky that my campus had provided such a service that helped my studies, although the service is still limited [to only the reading service].”

Compared to their general and secular counterparts, Islamic education institutions have been considered less “inclusive” in providing the opportunity for various groups of people to earn a formal education, including people with disabilities.

“I rarely find Islamic educational institutions that have applied inclusive education for students with special needs, while it is common in general school,” said Bahrul Fuad, the co-founder of disability advocacy group Advokasi untuk Disabilitas Inklusi Indonesia (Audisi).

The situation persists despite the country’s growing commitment to human rights, which can be seen in legislation dedicated to people with disabilities.

Signed in May last year, the 2016 Law on People with Disabilities highlights that they must be able to enjoy the same rights as other people, which means they should be facilitated in their personal achievement in fields of their own choice.

The statistics, however, have shown the opposite. According to the University of Indonesia’s Faculty of Economics and Business in 2016, only 54 percent of around 30 million people with disabilities in Indonesia had a chance to receive formal education.

As the majority in Indonesia, Muslims have been expected to play an important role in creating opportunities to include people with disabilities in every aspect of life, as Islamic teachings support inclusion and oppose any form of exclusion in all aspects of life.

Azyumardi Azra, a prominent Islamic scholar from UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, however, said the problem could be that some Muslim scholars still have negative views about disabled people.

“They perceive disability as a punishment from God for sins committed by their parents or others,” Azyumardi said during a two-day conference held by the university in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The conference, named the “International Conference Diversity and Disability Inclusion in Muslim Societies: Experiences from Asia,” was held by the state Islamic university in cooperation with two universities from Australia, namely Australian Catholic University and Western Sydney University.

Mastuki, the Religious Affairs Ministry spokesman, said the ministry had started to implement inclusive education in several schools and universities, including an Islamic high school in Jakarta. He added, however, that it would be an impossible mission to force all schools to implement such methods.

“Such methods would require institutions to adjust the whole thing, including curriculum, the readiness of teachers and physical infrastructure,” he told the Post.

He added that the easiest way would be to appoint several schools and universities in each region to implement such methods. “We can appoint several institutions to do the pilot project.”