T

he government is intensifying efforts to quell radicalism among the country’s youth, a mission one official says will be difficult to carry out.

Machasin, the Religious Affairs Ministry’s director of Islamic higher education, said the ministry had eyed a few strategies for preventing radical Islamic ideas from infiltrating educational institutions, but also wanted to ensure that the strategies would not hamper religious freedom.

“We acknowledge that we need to do something to address the problem of [radicalism], but we have to be careful because religion is an area where we can’t strictly control,” he told The Jakarta Post.

Machasin argued that the government could neither control nor prevent people from teaching others about anything.

“Everybody has the right to teach anything to anyone. Prophet Muhammad even urged Muslims to teach others even if they only know one verse of Koran,” he said.

For that reason, Machasin said his directorate would be focusing on student’s character-building.

Students, particularly those at Islamic institutions of higher education, would be instilled with certain character traits defining national ideals so they could make their own religious interpretations and choices responsibly, Machasin said.

However, the government has not yet formulated the character-building curriculum it plans to launch. Among the proposed traits to be instilled as national characteristics are unity and gotong royong (joint community effort), an appreciation of pluralism, a love of peace, perseverance and being goal-driven, democracy and positive thinking.

The Religious Affairs Religious Affairs Ministry has also encouraged state Islamic universities nationwide to build dormitories known as ma’had al-jamiah where the students could expand their knowledge of Islam.

Some of Islamic universities in Indonesia have already had such dormitories for a long time. Malang State Islamic University, East Java, has had one for 10 years.

Purwokerto Islamic University in Central Java has been working with Islamic boarding schools to teach students who lack adequate knowledge of Islam.

The Religious Affairs Ministry also received support from the Public Housing Ministry to build apartments near Islamic universities in some regions.

To prevent religious teachers from misleading students, the Religious Affairs Ministry will draft guidelines of Islamic education for teachers.

According to Machasin, the Religious Affairs Ministry has proposed to the National Education Ministry to make religious education extracurricular.

Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali, issued a proclamation urging Muslim families to read the Koran after dusk prayers, known as Maghrib Mengaji.

National Education Minister Muhammad Nuh recently said his ministry, along with the Religious Affairs Ministry, had agreed to help augment religious education.

“We have agreed to revitalize religious education, not only for Islam, but all religions,” he said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The revitalization would not only be based on knowledge but on student behavior. Nuh also encouraged Indonesian schools and universities to open more space for dialogue to promote a culture of tolerance.

“We cannot fight nor prevent radical ideology without other ideologies. It proves the need for more space for dialogue and public discussion,” Nuh said. (swd)