The education institution is part of the group’s plan to expand its operations internationally as agreed upon in a 2015 congress, the group’s chairman said.

“This is a milestone that is part of an expanded movement to enlighten the life of a nation and the world, starting with our brothers and sisters of kinship,” said Muhammadiyah chairman Haedar Nashir at a press conference.

He was referring to the close cultural bond between Indonesia and Malaysia, where Islam is the prevailing religious belief and Muhammadiyah’s vast network has flourished.

Haedar said that UMAM was expected to expand Indonesian-Malaysian relations beyond the conventional and traditional means of diplomacy.

"The history of Indonesia-Malaysia relations is full of color, and we need to fill it with the spirit of kinship so that we can move forward together," he said.

On Aug. 5, Malaysia’s Higher Education Ministry granted permission to establish the university, after years following official procedures in both countries. It was supported by authorities on both sides, including the King of Malaysia’s Perlis state, Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail.

The plan to set up a university was first laid out in 2017 by University Consortium Muhammadiyah Malaysia (UCMM).

The university is to offer various programs on education, business and management, Islamic studies and IT, with five programs each at the doctoral, graduate and undergraduate level.

However, it only plans to admit doctoral students and applicants for the master’s program for its first three years of operation, with undergraduate programs to be offered at a later date.

“The university is certainly open to all citizens of all nations because Muhammadiyah wants to realize inclusive education for all in the global realm,” Haedar said.

Chancellor and chief executive of UMAM, Waluyo Adi Siswanto, said the university would focus more on research and students were expected to collaborate with other researchers from Indonesia and Malaysia.

Read also: Islam Nusantara rises

He said the university would also offer a scholarship program for lecturers from small Muhammadiyah-Aisyiyah colleges (PTMA) and Muhammadiyah activists, with the hope that it could be expanded to the general public later.

Separately, Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas congratulated Muhammadiyah on the establishment of UMAM, saying that the group’s “internationalization” was proof of the expansion of Indonesian Islam’s dakwah (religious outreach) in the education sector.

“Muhammadiyah is a force of Islamic civil society that consistently promotes religious moderation and the progress of Islam. I am very proud that UMAM will be able to strengthen the commitment of Indonesian Islam to become a beacon of enlightenment in Southeast Asia,” Yaqut said in a statement on Friday.

Over the past decade, and informed by the rise of violent extremism in the Middle East and elsewhere, mainstream Islamic organizations in Indonesia have pivoted away from the transactional Islamic movement of the time toward a moderate stance.

In 2015, Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the nation’s two biggest Islamic groups, promoted their distinct ideas of Islam as informed by the nation’s diverse makeup, the state ideology Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.

Muhammadiyah espouses the idea of a progressive Islam, while NU promotes Islam Nusantara, or Islam of the Archipelago.

Chairman Haedar said that UMAM was a manifestation of the goal of promoting the progressive mission of Islam rahmatan lil 'alamin (Islam as a blessing for all creation).

Muhammadiyah, which currently has around 70 million members nationwide, was established in 1912 by its founder Ahmad Dahlan, the leader of a reformist socioreligious movement that advocated ijtihad, or the individual interpretation of the Quran and the sunnah, Prophet Muhammad’s sayings.

As an organization keen on education and social affairs, Muhammadiyah has established thousands of schools and hundreds of universities, hospitals and orphanages across the archipelago.

UMAM will be Muhammadiyah’s 164^th university.

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