Al-Jāmi‘ah: Journal of Islamic Studies
Vol. 62, no. 2 (2024), pp. 337-361, doi: 10.14421/ajis.2024.622.337-361

WESTERN QUR’ANIC STUDIES IN INDONESIAN
ISLAMIC UNIVERSITIES
Responses, Contestations, and Curriculum Politics
Yusuf Rahman* and Ervan Nurtawab**
*
Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, Jakarta, Indonesia
**
Jurai Siwo State Islamic University, Lampung, Indonesia
email: yusuf.rahman@uinjkt.ac.id
Abstract
This article examines how lecturers of Qur’anic Studies at five Indonesian
Islamic universities engage with Western scholarship on the Qur’an. Drawing
on fieldwork conducted at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, UIN Sunan
Kalijaga Yogyakarta, UIN Alauddin Makassar, UIN Imam Bonjol Padang,
and UIN Bukittinggi, the study investigates how faculty members negotiate
the incorporation of Western approaches in their academic programs. The
article also engages with recent academic literature to reinforce its contemporary
relevance. Our findings suggest that although there is a general openness to
Western methodologies, significant tensions persist, particularly regarding the
design of curricula. Influential figures within these departments have shaped
what they view as an appropriate orientation for students, revealing competing
visions between two educational aims: (1) engaging with Western academic
approaches to the Qur’an and tafsīr, and (2) mastering Qur’anic knowledge
for Islamic missionary purposes.
[Artikel ini mengkaji pandangan para dosen Ilmu al-Qur’an di Program
Studi Ilmu al-Qur’an dan Tafsir dari lima Universitas Islam Negeri terhadap
keilmuan Barat tentang al-Qur’an: UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, UIN

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
© 2024
Y. Rahman; E. Nurtawab

ISSN: 0126-012X (p); 2338-557X (e)
Al-Jami‘ah Research Centre, Yogyakarta - Indonesia
https://aljamiah.or.id

Yusuf Rahman and Ervan Nurtawab

Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, UIN Alauddin Makassar, UIN Imam Bonjol
Padang, dan UIN Bukittinggi. Data yang dianalisis dalam studi ini diperoleh
melalui kunjungan lapangan ke lima program studi tersebut. Selain itu, artikel
ini juga berinteraksi secara kritis dengan literatur akademik mutakhir,
sehingga memperkuat posisinya dalam wacana keilmuan kontemporer. Kami
berargumen bahwa meskipun terdapat kecenderungan kuat di program studi
tersebut untuk menerima keilmuan Barat untuk kajian al-Qur’an, muncul
pula sejumlah keberatan yang turut memengaruhi arah dan pengembangan
kurikulum program studi. Beberapa figur yang dominan dan berpengaruh
di lingkungan program studi memainkan peran penting dalam merumuskan
kurikulum yang mereka anggap paling sesuai bagi mahasiswa Ilmu al-Qur’an.
Perdebatan muncul terkait pencapaian dua tujuan pembelajaran utama
antara: (1) memahami dan menerima pendekatan keilmuan Barat dalam
studi al-Qur’an dan tafsir; atau (2) menguasai pengetahuan keislaman yang
mendalam mengenai al-Qur’an dan tafsir untuk kepentingan dakwah Islam.]
Keywords: Western Qur’anic scholarship, Indonesian Qur’anic
scholarship, orientalism, Indonesian Association of Qur’anic
Studies.
A. Introduction
Muslim scholars have been developing Qur’anic and tafsīr studies
since the early period of Islam. Western scholars,1 most of whom are nonMuslim, have also made notable contributions to the field, yet their works
and ideas have at times spurred controversy within Muslim communities.
Muhammad Abdul-Rauf and Fazlur Rahman exemplify two contrasting
perspectives on the role of Western scholars to Qur’anic studies. AbdulRauf maintains that non-Muslims should refrain from engaging in the
study of the Qur’an, arguing that their analyses are frequently marred
by linguistic inaccuracies and unfounded assumptions, which result in
misleading conclusions about the text.2 In contrast, Rahman adopts a
It should be stated that the term ‘Western scholars’ here refers to academics
specializing in the study of the Qur’an and tafsīr who are not Muslims. Undoubtedly,
there are Muslims who now are living in the West, teaching, researching and contributing
to the contemporary scholarship of Qur’an and tafsīr. However, in this article, western
scholars are those who were previously called Orientalists.
2
Muhammad Abdul-Rauf, “Outsiders’ Interpretations of Islam: A Muslim’s
Point of View”, in Approaches to Islam in Religious Studies, ed. by Richard C. Martin
(Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1985), p. 187.
1

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more inclusive stance, asserting that non-Muslim scholars may contribute
meaningfully to Qur’anic studies, provided they possess a solid grounding
in Islamic sciences and approach the subject with appropriate scholarly
sensitivity.3 While Rahman recognizes the constructive potential of
Western scholarship on the Qur’an, many Muslims have responded with
resistance, accusing Western academics of fostering uncertainty and
doubt regarding the Qur’an. Among the more vocal critic is S. Parvez
Manzoor, who expresses deep mistrust toward Orientalist approaches
and denounces their often sceptical stance toward foundational Muslim
beliefs. He writes:
“The Orientalist enterprise of Qur’anic studies, whatever its other merits
and services, was a project born of spite, bred in frustration and nourished
by vengeance; the spite of the powerful for the powerless, the frustration
of the ‘rational’ towards the ‘superstitious’ and the vengeance of the
‘orthodox’ against the ‘non-conformist.’”4

Critiques of Western scholarship on the Qur’an by Muslim scholars
are often marked by theological or polemical concerns.5 Daneshgar,
drawing on his intellectual experiences and research in Qur’anic studies
across Iran, Malaysia, and New Zealand, identifies several structural
limitations within Islamic studies in Muslim-majority countries. These
include a predominantly apologetic approach, sectarian biases, limited
critical engagement, and restrictions on academic freedom.6 Similarly,
Yusuf Rahman, in his review of literature circulating in Indonesia,
observes that Western scholarship on the Qur’an tends to be received
negatively within the Indonesian academic landscape.7 However, within
Fazlur Rahman, “Approaches to Islam in Religious Studies: Review Essay”, in
Approaches to Islam in Religious Studies, ed. by Richard C. Martin (Tucson: The University
of Arizona Press, 1985), p. 197.
4
S. Parvez Manzoor, “Method against Truth: Orientalism and Qur’anic Studies”,
in The Qur’ān: Style and Content, ed. by Andrew Rippin (Aldershot, Burlington, Singapore,
Sydney: Ashgate Variorum, 2001), p. 381.
5
Yusuf Rahman, “Theological and Polemical Reception on Western Scholarship
in Al-Qur’ān and Tafsīr Studies in Indonesia”, Jurnal Ushuluddin, vol. 27, no. 1 (2019),
pp. 1–13.
6
Majid Daneshgar, Studying the Qur’an in the Muslim Academy (New York, NY:
Oxford University Press, 2020).
7
For discussion on Indonesian Muslim responses to Western scholarship,
see: Yusuf Rahman, “Indonesian Muslim Responses to Non-Muslim Approaches to
Qur’anic Studies”, in New Trends in Qur’anic Studies: Text, Context, and Interpretation, ed.
by Mun’im Sirry, Lockwood Press, 2019. The present article, in contrast, analyses the
orientation of Qur’anic Studies departments towards this scholarship.
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academic settings, the reception of Western scholarship is not always
negative. Based on her teaching experience in Indonesia—particularly
at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta—Fina argues that Daneshgar’s
assessment is an overgeneralization that does not fully reflect the diversity
and complexity of Muslim academic contexts worldwide.8
In response to Fina’s argument, this study examines the reception
of Western scholarship on the Qur’an within the context of the
development of Qur’anic Studies Departments (Program Studi Ilmu
Al-Qur’an dan Tafsir, or Prodi IAT) in Indonesia’s Islamic higher
education institutions. The analysis focuses on five selected universities,
chosen for their representative character and relevance to the broader
landscape of contemporary Qur’anic scholarship in Indonesian Islamic
academia. These universities include UIN Yogyakarta, UIN Jakarta,
UIN Makassar, UIN Padang, and IAIN (now UIN) Bukittinggi. UIN
Yogyakarta and UIN Jakarta were chosen due to their longstanding
roles in mainstreaming Qur’anic scholarship discourse over several
decades. The remaining three universities were selected based on their
geographic diversity. UIN Padang and IAIN (now UIN) Bukittinggi,
located in West Sumatra, alongside UIN Makassar in Eastern Indonesia,
reflect the broader regional dynamics in the development of Qur’anic
scholarship in Indonesia. These institutions serve as representative cases
for understanding how the evolution of the Department of Qur’anic
Studies reflects and refracts contemporary debates and controversies
among Indonesian Muslim academics. The analysis will focus on the
current state of academic interactions between lecturers and students,
particularly regarding their perspectives on and attitudes towards Western
scholarship on the Qur’an.
Therefore, the term “Qur’anic Studies” in this article refers
specifically to the study of the Qur’an within the context of the
Indonesian Islamic higher education institutions. Courses examining
works on the Qur’an by so-called “Western scholars” appear under various
tittles, such as “Orientalism and Qur’anic Studies”, “Qur’anic Studies in
the West”. These courses are designed to be distinct from another course,
called “Modern Approaches to the Qur’an” which focuses more on the
contributions of Muslim scholars. Such subjects are commonly taught
in public Islamic universities (IAIN and UIN), institutions originally
Lien Iffah Naf ’atu Fina, “Studying the Qur’an in the Context of Indonesian
Islamic Higher Education”, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, vol. 33, no. 2
(2021), pp. 139–61
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established to produce educators and specialists in Islamic studies to serve
the needs of both the Indonesian government and Muslim communities.9
In examining the development of Qur’anic scholarship in
contemporary Indonesia, we restrict our focus on the institutional
dynamics and controversies concerning the management of Qur’anic
Studies department at selected universities. Subjects regarding Western
Qur’anic scholarship are commonly found within the curricula of these
departments. The tensions surrounding the implementation of Western
ideas are closely tied to how each department formally structures its
programs and defines its learning objectives -factors that directly influence
the projected profiles of future graduates. In August and December of
2019, we made regular visits to the departments of Qur’anic Studies of
the five universities under study. We first conducted a preliminary survey
of the departments’ profiles to measure the extent of information they
could provide about the impact of the introduction of Western Qur’anic
scholarship on faculty members and students. The participants in our
survey consisted of the representatives of their public institutions (e.g.,
UIN/IAIN) in the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Indonesian Association
of Qur’anic Studies (AIAT) in Yogyakarta between August 19-21, 2019.
Despite the temporal distance, the data gathered during this event remain
highly relevant, as they capture enduring institutional dynamics, scholarly
orientations, and epistemological tensions that continue to shape Qur’anic
studies in Indonesia today, particularly amid ongoing debates over
academic autonomy, curriculum reform, and the negotiation of global
Islamic discourses within local contexts.
B. Muslim Scholars and Western Scholarship on the Qur’an
In this section, we discuss literature on Muslim academics’
responses to Western scholarship in Islamic Studies, especially Qur’anic
Studies. As indicated above, the term ‘Western scholarship on the Qur’an
and tafsīr’ refers to works written by Western scholars who are not
On the study of the Qur’an in the context of Indonesian Islamic higher
education, see Fina, “Studying the Qur’an”, pp. 139–61; More general on Islamic
studies in the IAIN/UIN context, see Azyumardi Azra, “From IAIN to UIN: Islamic
Studies in Indonesia”, in Islamic Studies and Islamic Education in Contemporary Southeast Asia,
ed. by Kamaruzzaman Bustamam-Ahmad and Patrick Jory (Kuala Lumpur: Yayasan
Ilmuwan, 2011), pp. 43-55; On the establishment of State Islamic institutes or IAIN,
see B.J. Boland, The Struggle of Islam in Modern Indonesia (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff,
1971), pp. 118-123.
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Muslim. In this respect, Andrew Rippin,10 for example, outlines Western
scholarship on the Qur’an from its early formative period in the medieval
age to the contemporary period, while Abdullah Saeed in his book The
Qur’ān: An Introduction, describes the context and background of the
development of Qur’anic Studies in the West, the approaches that have
been developed, and the overall contributions that have been made to
the field.11
It must be noted that for a long time, Western scholarship in
Islamic Studies was a part of Orientalism, an element of Orientalists’
interest in observing non-Western—especially Asian—peoples and their
cultures as parts of their colonies. Following the series of publications
on Orientalism by Edward Said in the 1970s and 1980s, some new
terms emerged to denote the perspectives of Western scholars, such as
‘outsider interpretation’, as opposed to ‘insider interpretation,’ and ‘nonMuslim scholarship’ or ‘Euro-American scholarship.’ These Western
scholars mainly encouraged ‘non-confessional’ or ‘critical dispassionate’
approaches to the study of Islam. In other words, they and their academic
works were driven by both a critical attitude towards, and critical analysis
of, their objects of study as distinguished from the normative and
theological approaches often encountered in Islamic Studies programs
in universities throughout the Muslim world, especially the Middle East.
In 2012, the Journal of Qur’anic Studies published a special issue
comprising articles about Muslim responses to Western scholarship on
the Qur’an and tafsīr, including those of Muslim scholars in Turkey and
Iran. Mehmet Akif Koç, for example, details the influence of Western
scholarship on the development of Qur’anic Studies in Turkey,12 while
Morteza Karimi-Nia addresses the same subject in the context of Iran.13
Both argue that Muslim responses to Western scholarship on the Qur’an
can be classified as either apologetic or reformist. Koç broadens the
scope of influence to include not only Western approaches that Muslim
Andrew Rippin, “Western Scholarship and the Qur’ān”, in Cambridge Companion
to the Qur’ān, ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2006), pp. 235–51.
11
Abdullah Saeed, The Qur’ān: An Introduction (London and New York: Routledge,
2008), especially Chapter 6.
12
Mehmet Akif Koç, “The Influence of Western Qur’anic Scholarship in
Turkey,” Journal of Qur’anic Studies, vol. 14, no. 1 (2012), pp 9–44.
13
Morteza Karimi-Nia, “Contemporary Qur’anic Studies in Iran and Its
Relationship with Qur’anic Studies in the West”, Journal of Qur’anic Studies, vol. 14, no.
1 (2012), pp. 45–72.
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scholars have benefited from, but also critiques of and disagreements with
the Western scholarly contributions to the field. Examination of Turkish
translations of Western works, just like that of Indonesian translations
in our study, is one way he traces Western influence on the study of the
Qur’an and tafsīr. Koç also evaluates the arguments of Turkish scholars.
To better understand the influence of Western scholars, Koç
discusses the historical development of religious educational institutions
in Turkey prior to the arrival of Western scholarship and the subsequent
period in which some groups of Turkish Muslims adopted certain aspects
of the Western educational style. He covers new teaching and learning
approaches, curricula, and pedagogical textbooks for the study of Islam.
Koç also describes the roles played by some Turkish Muslim graduates of
Western universities and their influence on the study of the Qur’an and
tafsīr. In the context of contemporary Iranian scholarship on Qur’anic
Studies, Karimi-Nia identifies two academic attitudes, the theologicalpolemic and the scientific-academic. Proponents of the theologicalpolemic attitude usually presuppose that the Westerners are a monolithic
entity with singular sinister motives. They do not understand that in the
West, and among Western scholars of Islam, there are disparate principles,
methodologies and results which have led to the emergence of various
schools of Islamic studies.14 One concrete manifestation of this attitude
consists of their publication of Persian editions of Western works on
the Qur’an that are in accordance with their academic orientations or
include their strong criticism.
Apart from the articles of Koç and Karimi-Nia, two works
examine the influence of Toshihiko Izutsu’s writings on the Qur’an in
Arab countries and Turkey. Eisa Al-Akoub posits four reasons for the
popularity of Western scholarship among Arab scholars: 1) they are
curious about what they view as non-Muslim prejudices against and
non-Muslim attitudes toward Islam; 2) they attempt to counter what
they consider the false assumptions of Western scholars about Islam
and its scripture; 3) they try to uncover linguistic, scientific and historical
mistakes in Western works; and 4) they aim to select Western scientific
works that—in their view—are free from ideological and colonial biases.15
We think the last reason represents, to some extent, the contribution of
Arab scholars to a more academic study of Western works in Islamic
Ibid., p. 61.
Eisa Al-Akoub, “Izutsu’s Study of the Qur’an from an Arab Perspective,”
Journal of Qur’anic Studies, vol. 14, no. 1 (2012), pp. 107–30.
14
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Studies, especially Qur’anic Studies. Similar to Al-Akoub, Ismail Albayrak
in his article “The Reception of Toshihiko Izutsu’s Qur’anic Studies in the
Muslim World: With Special Reference to Turkish Qur’anic Scholarship,”
believes that Izutsu’s works on Islam and the Qur’an have gained a more
positive reception among most Muslim scholars since he neither belongs
to, nor is affiliated with, either Judaism or Christianity. Moreover, since his
scholarship is not based on Western tradition, there is a strong assumption
among Muslim scholars that he cannot be classified as an Orientalist.16
In Indonesia, opinions about Western scholarship on the Qur’an
have also been negative. In his book Orientalis & Diabolisme Pemikiran,
Syamsuddin Arif, for example, sees skepticism as the starting point for
Western scholars in their study of the Qur’an and related subjects, while
remarking that Western Orientalists began their works with prejudices
and suspicions.17 Accordingly, their analyses lead to doubts about the
Qur’an and its teachings, as opposed to the writings of Muslim scholars
(ulama), who always encourage readers (i.e., Muslims) to increase their
faith through their studies. Similarly, Adian Husaini18 thinks that Western
academic culture has been systematically introduced into and infiltrated
Indonesian scholarship on the Qur’an. He seems to be frustrated by what
he views as the embrace of elements of Western academic approaches by
higher educational Islamic institutions, particularly in Qur’anic Studies.
It is evident that these Muslim critiques of Western scholarship on the
Qur’an generally have a theological or even polemical tone.19 This is
especially apparent from how their arguments are frequently designed
to demonstrate the literal truth of Q. 2:120, ‘Never will the Jews or the
Christians be satisfied with you unless you follow their form of religion.’
Another important work to discuss is the festschrift compiled by
Majid Daneshgar in honour of Andrew Rippin.20 Daneshgar points out
Ismail Albayrak, “The Reception of Toshihiko Izutsu’s Qur’anic Studies in
the Muslim World: With Special Reference to Turkish Qur’anic Scholarship”, Journal of
Qur’anic Studies, 14, no. 1 (2012), pp. 73–106.
17
Syamsuddin Arif, Orientalis dan Diabolisme Pemikiran (Jakarta: Gema Insani
Press, 2008).
18
Adian Husaini, Wajah Peradaban Barat: Dari Hegemoni Kristen Ke Dominasi SekularLiberal (Jakarta: Gema Insani Press, 2005); Adian Husaini, Hegemoni Kristen-Barat Dalam
Studi Islam Di Perguruan Tinggi (Jakarta: Gema Insani Press, 2006); Adian Husaini, Virus
Liberalisme Di Perguruan Tinggi Islam (Jakarta: Gema Insani Press, 2009).
19
Rahman, “Theological and Polemical Reception”, pp. 1–13.
20
Majid Daneshgar, “Western Non-Muslim Qur’anic Studies in Muslim
Academic Contexts: On Rippin’s Works from the Middle East to the Malay-Indonesian
World”, in Islamic Studies Today: Essays in Honor of Andrew Rippin, ed. by Majid Daneshgar
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that the usage of non-Muslims’ ideas to structure theological arguments
was common among medieval Islamic scholars, though some of them
did criticize non-Islamic philosophy. This tendency has reappeared in
various contexts since the nineteenth century when Muslim countries
began to face Western colonization. A more recent work by Daneshgar,
Studying the Qur’an in the Muslim Academy, relates many of his intellectual
and work experiences in Qur’anic Studies in Iran, Malaysia, and New
Zealand.21 His main argument is that an apologetic approach to Islamic
Studies, sectarianism, lack of critical thought, and hindrance of freedom
of speech are common in the Muslim academy.
Daneshgar’s monograph sparked debate among scholars, some of
which is documented in the thirty-third edition of the journal Method
and Theory in the Study of Religion (2021), which also includes Daneshgar’s
responses to the comments on his book.22 Hughes examines Islamic Studies
in both Western and non-Western contexts,23 while Qidwai identifies a
lack of coherence in Daneshgar’s monograph in his conceptions of the
Muslim academy and the ‘Western’ one.24 Referring to her own familial
and intellectual background, she expresses scepticism about accepting the
Western sources used by Daneshgar. Rizvi emphasizes the importance of
paying attention to the political and intellectual contexts in which Islamic
Studies, including Qur’anic Studies, exists, whether in Western or Muslim
academies.25 Finally, Fina offers a portrait of Islamic Studies in Indonesian
Islamic universities.26 Treating UIN Yogyakarta as her case study, she
contends that Daneshgar’s arguments result from his overgeneralization
about the similar character of Muslim academies throughout the Muslim
world. Feyzbakhsh discusses Daneshgar’s research with reference to the
Iranian academic context.27
and Walid A. Saleh (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2017), pp. 367–85.
21
Daneshgar, Studying the Qur’an.
22
Majid Daneshgar, “I Want to Become an Orientalist Not a Colonizer or a
‘De-Colonizer”, Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, vol. 33, no. 2 (2021) 173–85.
23
Aaron W. Hughes, “Studying Islam in Western and Non-Western Contexts”,
Method & Theory in the Study of Religion vol. 33, no. 2 (2021), pp. 107–13.
24
Sarah A. Qidwai, “Studying the Qur’an: Neither Here nor There,” Method &
Theory in the Study of Religion, vol. 33, no. 2 (2021), pp. 114–21.
25
Sajjad Rizvi, “Reversing the Gaze? Or Decolonizing the Study of the Qur’an,”
Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, vol. 33, no. 2 (2021), pp. 122–38.
26
Fina, “Studying the Qur’an”, pp. 139–61.
27
Mohsen Feyzbakhsh, “‘The Main Parts Are Made in Europe’: Apologetic/
Critical Dichotomy and the Untold Story of Qur’anic Studies in the Iranian Academy”,
Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, vol. 33, no. 2 (2021), pp. 162–72.

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The literature discussed above has carefully documented the various
interactions of Muslim scholars with Western scholarship on the Qur’an
and their opinions about it. Their negative views and hostile attitudes
have, to some extent, resulted from a long history of Christian-Muslim
hostilities. Furthermore, works composed in the formative period of
Islamic Studies in the West that, from the perspective of Muslims, clearly
exhibit inimical Western behaviour towards Muslims and their religion.
However, it is evident that the literature reviewed has neglected Indonesia,
the country with the largest Muslim population. Only a handful of studies
are concerned with the development of Qur’anic Studies in Indonesian
Islamic universities. This limitation is especially apparent during the
formative period of Qur’anic Studies as an independent department.
Accordingly, we address this matter here, also elucidate certain disputes
among lecturers and important figures (e.g., directors, deans, and vicedeans) regarding the orientation of prospective graduates. As will be
shown, they have been striving to make their graduates as either academics
receptive to Western scholarship or as missionaries capable of protecting
Islamic beliefs from “heretical” views about the Qur’an.
C. Western Qur’anic Scholarship in Indonesia: Five Islamic
Universities
It must be noted that the Department of Qur’anic and tafsīr
Studies was previously together with Hadith Studies in one department.
In 2015, the two fields became represented by independent departments.
Nonetheless, for technical reasons, some universities implemented
this policy only in later years. Presently, there are more than seventy
departments of Qur’anic Studies and twenty-nine departments of Hadith
Studies in higher educational institutions in Indonesia. In this section, we
detail our findings about the reception of Western Qur’anic scholarship
in Indonesia. Our focus is on how the administration of Qur’anic
Studies departments reflects a dispute between individuals engaged
therein. In the broader national context, the Indonesian Association of
Qur’anic Studies has been actively orienting the departments towards
greater openness to academic paradigms as opposed to concentrating
on normative views. We learned that department coordinators in the five
universities often both supported academia as the basis for studying the
Qur’an and tafsīr works on the university level as well as functioned as
Muslim preachers and teachers for their communities. In our analysis
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below, we concentrate on graduates’ orientations, strategies for making
Western scholarship acceptable, and the factors that made it possible for
faculty members (at UIN Yogyakarta) to create a more stable tradition
of academic scholarship on the Qur’an.
1. Becoming an Academic or a Preacher: The Graduate’s Future Career
Contested
Two different views about the goal of Islamic education can
be traced to the introduction of Western educational styles into the
Indonesian Islamic education system in the early twentieth century: to
deepen one’s knowledge of Islam and piety, or to acquire intellectual
skills and competency.28 This debate subsequently became more heated
on the university level, especially when more graduates from public
Indonesian Islamic universities pursued degrees in Islamic Studies at
Western universities in the 1960s and 1970s before returning to Indonesia
and taking on important positions in the Ministry of Religious Affairs
and universities. In the following decades, the Western academic tradition
gained more support and opportunity to grow in Indonesia as a result of
partnerships between Western institutions and UIN/IAIN institutions,
through which the latter aimed to achieve international recognition.
Nevertheless, Islamic Studies graduates have also been expected to
contribute to the development of local communities in which the mastery
of Islamic texts on a normative level and the capacity to transmit their
teachings are requisite.
Although these two distinct approaches to learning need not be
seen as fundamentally opposed to one another, faculty members in
Qur’anic Studies departments seemed to struggle with accommodating
both. In our fieldwork, we encountered the condition that faculty
members often occupy prominent roles in community services and
public religious dialogues. Their engagement with the broader public
reflects their normative vision of the role Qur’anic Studies graduates
should play in society. Their (conservative) position is that graduates
are more fit to function as missionaries, supporting the community by
Mahmud Yunus, Sejarah Pendidikan Islam Di Indonesia (Jakarta: Mutiara, 1979);
Karel A. Steenbrink, Pesantren, Madrasah, Sekolah: Pendidikan Islam dan Kurun Moderen
(Jakarta: LP3ES, 1991); Yudi Latif, Indonesian Muslim Intelligentsia and Power (Singapore:
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2008); Deliar Noer, Administration of Islam in
Indonesia (Singapore: Equinox Publishing, 2010); Ervan Nurtawab, “The Decline of
Traditional Learning Methods in Changing Indonesia: Trends of Bandongan-Kitāb
Readings in Pesantrens”, Studia Islamika, vol. 26, no. 3 (2019), pp. 511–41.
28

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teaching orthodox Islamic beliefs and deterring Muslims from espousing
heretical views about the Qur’an. In other words, they think Qur’anic
Studies graduates are better suited to become Muslim preachers. As a
result, they tend to resist the inclusion of Western Qur’anic scholarship
within the academic in curriculum.
It has been assumed that graduates of Islamic Studies programs
at Western universities are more progressive than their counterparts
who graduated from Middle Eastern universities. However, individuals
who explicitly reject the adoption of Western approaches to Qur’anic
scholarship might have any sort of university background. Moreover,
it is common for certain people to dominate a department due to their
seniority, intellectual credentials, or strong basis in the community. What
motivated us to consider the domination of certain individuals is how
the individual’s influence seems to have shifted over time. We found
that sometimes people were obliged to obey their superiors despite
disagreeing with them. This section will be focusing on the domination of
such figures—whom we call ‘the main actor’—in creating the academic
environments in Qur’anic Studies departments.
We begin with the development of Qur’anic scholarship at UIN
Alauddin in Makassar. Its formation received a strong impetus from
Professor Muhammad Rafii Yunus (1941-2018), a senior faculty member
who graduated from an American university in 1994. He helped establish
the curricula of the Faculty of Theology during the 1990s and stressed
that becoming a Muslim missionary should be the main goal of the
graduate from the Department of Qur’anic Studies. During our visit to
the university in 2019, we found that the Department of Qur’anic Studies
members still recall and abide by his guidance. Yunus was a lecturer in
Qur’anic Studies and tafsīr, and belonged to a respected religious family
who ran the As’adiyah Islamic boarding schools (pesantrens), some of
the noteworthy institutions of this kind in South Sulawesi. He was also
considered the ‘ālim or Muslim leader and became the leader of the
As’adiyah organization, one of the prominent Muslim organizations
based in Sengkang, South Sulawesi. Yunus graduated from the University
of Michigan in 1994 before attaining the status of professor from UIN
Alauddin. His strong social and intellectual background had a significant
impact on his junior colleagues in the Department of Qur’anic Studies,
to the point that even after his retirement, they still considered his ideas
highly important.
One instance of Yunus’ influence is observable in the creation of
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the curricula for the Department of Tafsīr-Hadith between 2003 and
2007. Although “the Qur’an and Orientalism,” and “Hermeneutics”
were included as subjects in the curricula, the courses were not actually
offered. According to Dr. M. Sadik Sabry, the head of the department
for two periods, that “yang paling getol untuk tidak memasukkan subjek
tersebut adalah Prof. Yunus”29 (the one who [fought] the hardest against
the inclusion of these subjects was Prof. Yunus). Yunus insisted that
courses on these topics or similar ones not be offered to students in the
Department of Tafsir-Hadith. However, he permitted them to be offered
to students in other departments, such as the Department of Islamic
Philosophy. All department members have adhered to his advice and
maintained their respect for him due to his seniority and his powerful
position as the chairman of the As’adiyah organization.
Dr. Muhsin Mahfudz, another informant who was the dean of
the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy at the time of the interview,
stated that when all curricula were being reviewed in 2015, Yunus and
Mustamin Arsyad (1957-2015) raised objections to the Department of
Qur’anic Studies’ attempt to include “the Qur’an and Orientalism,” and
“hermeneutics” in the curriculum. Mahfudz found this rather surprising,
since Yunus received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan
in 199630 and his M.A. degree from McGill University in 1976. Yunus and
Arsyad agreed that these subjects should not be taught in the Department
of Qur’anic Studies undergraduate program. However, they allowed the
graduate program to offer this subject to graduate students in Qur’anic
Studies because their knowledge and skills are sufficient to deal with
Western scholarship on Islamic Studies and Qur’anic Studies.31
It is worth mentioning that Taufik Adnan Amal, a lecturer based in
the Faculty of Sharia at UIN Alauddin Makassar, whose book Rekonstruksi
Based on the narration of Dr. M. Sadik Sabry during FGD on 26 September
2022, in Makassar. In an interview, Dr. Aan Parhani, the secretary of the department,
adds that the subjects on “Orientalism and the Qur’an”, “Hermeneutics and Semiotics”
are actually listed in the curricula as elected courses, but they were never offered. Parhani
promises that the subjects will be proposed again during the review curriculum in 2020,
since these subjects are decreed by the Indonesian Association of Qur’anic Studies in its
4th Annual Meeting in August 2019 as required subjects for Qur’anic studies curricula.
30
Yunus wrote his PhD dissertation on Qur’anic studies, see Muhammad Rafii
Yunus, “Modern Approaches to the Study of I`jaz Al-Quran”, PhD Dissertation (Ann
Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, 1994).
31
Based on an interview with Dr. Muhsin Mahfudz on 26 September 2019, in
Makassar.
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Sejarah al-Qur’an (Reconstructing the History of the Qur’an)32 attracted
the attention of Indonesian Muslims in the first decade of this century,
did not teach in the Department of Qur’anic Studies at this UIN. Yet,
his work, which discusses positively Western scholarship on the history
of the Qur’an, is a pertinent contribution to Indonesian scholarship
on the Qur’an. According to our informant, Dr. Muhaimin, M.Ag., a
lecturer at the Islamic Philosophy department, Amal’s writings seemed
to have received very little attention in the university. When he was an
undergraduate student, Muhaimin narrates:
Jadi untuk kasus Pak Amal, waktu itu saya masih mahasiswa, sering
mendengar dan baca karya-karyanya. … Menurut saya, ini tidak saya
dapat dari forum-forum kelas. Tapi, dari forum-forum diskusi yang
mana Pak Amal menjadi pemateri. Menurut saya, apa yang menjadi buah
pemikiran Pak Amal tidak diapresiasi oleh dosen-dosen senior, tapi banyak
dikembangkan oleh aktivis-aktivis atau orang-orang di luar kelas.33
(So, in the case of Amal, when I was an undergraduate student, I used to
hear and read his works …. According to me, I did not find this [Amal’s
ideas] in the classroom, but in the discussion forum where Amal was the
presenter. According to me, Amal’s writings were not well received by the
senior lecturers, but were developed by activists outside the classroom)

Perhaps his more historical and critical approaches to the scripture
made the Department of Qur’anic Studies unwilling to incorporate his
work as a reference in the study of the Qur’an. Furthermore, the one
who opposed this was Yunus.
As discussed, Yunus was a central figure in the development of the
Department of Qur’anic Studies at UIN Alauddin. He also contributed to
the development of comparative religion in the faculty. As our informant
explained, his thoughts evolved considerably between the time he was a
university lecturer and his retirement. His original perspective belongs
to the period in which he was a lecturer and among those contributing
to the development of the academic tradition in the university. Once
lived in a developed country, he was popular for his lifestyle, including
his habit of wearing long trousers with suspenders and cycling to the
campus. He was known for his positive attitude towards new theoretical
frameworks and approaches. His perspective clearly shifted when he
Taufik Adnan Amal, Rekonstruksi Sejarah Al-Quran, ed. by Samsu Rizal
Panggabean, Digital Edition (Jakarta: Divisi Muslim Demokratis Yayasan Abad
Demokrasi, 2011), first published by Mizan, 2005.
33
Interview with Dr. Muhaimin at UIN Makassar.
32

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replaced his father as leader of the As’adiyah organization in Sengkang.
The shift from the perspective of lecturer to kiyai/gurutta, Muhaimin
compares Yunus to Shāfi‘ī:
Menurut saya Pak Rafi Yunus itu seperti Imam Syafi’i, punya Qaul Qadim
dan Qaul Jadid. Waktu saya dibimbing di S2, beliau sangat mengapresiasi.
Tapi belakangan setelah aktif di pesantren, jadi pimpinan Pesantren
As‘adiyah itu, ada perubahan pemikiran dan paradigma menjadi agak
tradisional setelah aktif di sana.34
(For me, Prof. Rafii Yunus is like Shāfi‘ī who has qaul qadīm (past opinion)
and qaul jadīd (new opinion). When I was supervised by him in my MA,
he was very appreciative [with critical ideas on the Qur’an. Muhaimin
wrote his thesis on Shaħrūr]. But lately, when Yunus was more active in
pesantren, and became the head of Pesantren Asʿadiyah, there were some
changes in his thought and paradigm to be more traditional since his
involvement there)

This shift was accompanied by a change in his fashion, now
appearing publicly in the style of a gurutta or kyai. He also began to
dispute the Western Qur’anic scholarship introduced to students in the
Department of Qur’anic Studies, arguing that the graduate from the
Department should be guided to be a preacher (muballigh), like his later
role in society, rather than an academic, like his previous position in the
university.
Dr. Novizal Wendry related his experience as a graduate of the
Department of Qur’an and Hadith at UIN Imam Bonjol Padang in
2004. There was no course about Western scholarship on the Qur’an
was offered, though one course concerned Orientalism. He learned
about different types of Orientalists, some of whom were subjective
and others who were objective. After obtaining a master’s degree from
UIN Jakarta, Wendry was appointed secretary of the program in 2016.
He noticed that Qur’anic Studies was still merged with Hadith Studies in
one department, which offered a course merely on “Orientalism” (not
on Orientalism and Qur’anic Studies). His active engagement with the
Indonesian Association of Qur’anic Studies helped him reinvigorate the
department, which has since reviewed the curriculum during intensive
meetings and discussions between faculty members.
One informant told us that Islam and the West are always viewed as
two entities in mutual conflict and hostility. All students generally assumed
34

Interview with Dr. Muhaimin, UIN Makassar.

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this, and it may also be the standpoint of some lecturers. They believe
that Westerners are always trying to provoke doubts about Islam among
Muslims. At the same time, they enjoy a privileged status as preachers
whose guidance is highly valued by the Muslim community. Dr. Widia
Fitri, M. Hum., who was the dean of the Faculty of Ushuluddin at UIN
Imam Bonjol at the time of the interview, responded to the question
whether there is contestation in the learning objectives of the Department
of Qur’anic Studies: to be a scholar and a thinker or to be a preacher. In
her view, the faculty has expanded the Ministry of Religious Affairs’ vision
and mission by combining Islamic values and science. Not only does the
faculty produce Muslim missionaries; but also encourages students to
become scholars. For this reason,
… kita berangsur-angsur memperkenalkan filsafat. Tidak mudah untuk
memahamkan karena mereka menganggapnya sesuatu yang asing.35
(… we have been gradually introducing courses on philosophy. It is not
simple to make these subjects comprehensible to students, because they
perceive them as foreign)

She admits, however, that students of the Qur’an and hadith did
not respond favourably to the critical academic scholarship of the Qur’an
and hadis.
In our research, we encountered only a few faculty members
capable of providing a counterargument to this negative stance. Notable
in this regard are some members of the Faculty of Theology at UIN
Sunan Kalijaga who have played important roles in the integration
of Western scholarship on the Qur’an into the curriculum of the
Department of Qur’anic Studies while maintaining a strong footing in
the university as well as on the broader community. One such figure
is Prof. Dr. Phil. Sahiron Syamsuddin, who is currently the chairman
of the Indonesian Association of Qur’anic Studies, who at the time
of this research), served as vice-rector of UIN Yogyakarta. He has
vigorously supported the use of the critical approaches of Western
Qur’anic scholarship in the Department of Qur’anic Studies. He stated
that contemporary Muslim scholars must learn from their counterparts
in Western academia, just as Muslim scholars such as al-Kindi, al-Farabi,
and Ibn Sina in the golden Islamic medieval age learned a great deal from
a variety of scholars regardless of their beliefs and religious affiliations.
Interview with the dean of the Faculty of Ushuluddin and Religious Studies
at UIN Imam Bonjol on 2 October 2019.
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In other words, Syamsuddin encourages Muslim academics to emulate
their Muslim predecessors who overlooked all cultural, religious, and
political identities in their attempts to gain knowledge. This effort is
all that Muslim academics today can do to bring about a better Islamic
civilization in the future—that is, learn from those who have possessed
the most knowledge in recent times.
2. A Supportive Academic Tradition and Neighbouring Universities
Different levels of success were reached in promoting Western
scholarship in the departments we studied. We believe that there are two
factors support a more academic atmosphere in the study of the Qur’an,
in which academics with different religious affiliations and intellectual
backgrounds can work together. In our view, realizing these two factors
will allow Indonesian Qur’anic scholarship to grow without harbouring
prejudices, and Muslim scholars will still be able to contribute to their
religious communities and aid the spread of Islam.
First, the university should have a sufficient number of
multigenerational specialists in Western scholarship on the Qur’an whose
perspectives support academic values rather than reflect apologetic and
normative approaches to the study of the Qur’an. A Western university
graduate may not always endorse Western academic values nor be
interested in implementing them in the institution with which he/she is
affiliated. The same applies to graduates from Middle Eastern Islamic
universities. How individuals respond to Western scholarship and their
academic approaches is highly dependent on their present characters
and social statuses. Their views often easily change following their
new positions and circumstances. This condition is, to some extent,
the situation at UIN Alauddin Makassar. However, it is possible to
construct a more solid academic tradition in which scholars from different
generations advocate the same orientation for Qur’anic scholarship. This
is the case at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta.
The second factor has to do with support provided by universities
and neighboring institutions, as well as regions with cultures that endorse
freedom of speech in academia. The embrace of critical Western
scholarship and other approaches from the arts, humanities, and
social sciences for the study of Islam constitutes a new development
in Indonesian Islamic universities in the last two decades. Universities
such as UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta and UIN Syarif Hidayatullah
Jakarta are more ready to accept Western scholarship. Nevertheless, other
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institutions (i.e., most of them) still found this challenging to do. Besides
having enough supportive academics, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta
has benefited considerably from its neighbouring universities that already
boast a distinguished record in the humanities and social sciences. The
long history of partnership and contacts between individuals from
different institutions contributed to their mutual understanding and
transmission of academic skills. Methods and theories developed in
both fields of study no doubt crucially informed how Islamic Studies—
especially Qur’anic Studies—adopted elements of Western academia.
It is worth relating the experiences of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah
Jakarta and UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta in terms of how both
factors influenced the development of their academic culture in which
Qur’anic scholarship is more developed. Established in the early period
of Indonesian higher educational development, both universities have
been considered leading Islamic universities. As graduates of UIN
Jakarta, we have been engaged in the dynamics of Islamic Studies
development. Located in Jakarta as the center of business, economy and
national politics, academic discourses in the university seem to be closely
connected and responsive to any broader polemics. The university also has
relationships with other universities and institutions, though their distant
locations hinder their faculty members and students from developing
deeper mutual understanding and closer cultural contacts.
Several Islamic universities in Jakarta belong to the pesantren milieu.
Several private Islamic universities in the city and environs also exist,
some of which have an Islamic Studies program. As far as we know,
there have not been any intensive intellectual or academic projects in
Islamic Studies carried out collaboratively by UIN Jakarta and these
universities, which indicates the lack of strong cultural and intellectual
correspondence between them. Instead, their communication seems to
have focused more on the missionary (da‘wa) programs.
Two exceptions are Paramadina University and the College of
Philosophical Studies (STF) Driyarkara. The first university was built by the
famous Indonesian Muslim thinker and UIN Jakarta graduate Nurcholish
Madjid (d. 2005), who regularly held intensive public discussions on
themes in Islamic Studies. Some progressive Muslim scholars—often
UIN Jakarta lecturers—are regularly invited to give presentations in this
study club. The second institution is a Christian college, where some
lecturers and students from the Faculty of Ushuluddin engage in cultural
exchanges as well as academic discussions and seminars on subjects
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concerning discourses in Western philosophy. Nonetheless, developing
a Qur’anic Studies department that accommodates Western scholarship
has mostly been the independent project of lecturers, who have taken
advantage of collaboration between UIN Jakarta and CIDA (Canada
International Development Agency). This is especially true for those who
received scholarships to pursue either M.A. or Ph.D. degrees at McGill
University in Montreal.36
A variety of features characterize UIN Sunan Kalijaga in
Yogyakarta, a city that, in addition to Surakarta in Central Java, is famous
as the center of Javanese culture and literature. Several campuses in
Yogyakarta have good records in both the humanities and social sciences.
They are also located near one another, enabling lecturers and students
to build academic relationships and maintain cultural and intellectual
contacts. We assume that the culturally distinct environments of Jakarta
and Yogyakarta affected how the development of Qur’anic Studies in
each university has achieved a different level of progress.
Apart from that, UIN Yogyakarta has benefited from neighboring
institutions and universities as well as the strong cultural environment of
Yogyakarta. Furthermore, the Qur’anic Studies program at this university
was better supported than those in the other Islamic universities we
studied, in that many scholars have been collaborating to promote a strong
academic atmosphere in Islamic Studies, especially Qur’anic Studies. Dr.
Sahiron Syamsuddin predicts that studies of the Qur’an in his university
in the following years are very promising, since many of young scholars
and lecturers are studying and completing their Ph.D. degrees abroad,
such as Lien Iffah Naf‘atu Fina in Chicago University, Fadhli Lukman
and Mu‘ammar Zayn Qadafy in Freiburg University, and A. Mughzi
Abdillah in Ankara University Turkey, among others, and will return to
The first author of this article, for example, benefited from the long
partnership between the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia and
CIDA. He completed both master and doctoral degrees from the Institute of Islamic
Studies at McGill University. The second author obtained a master degree in Islamic
Studies from UIN Syarif Hidayatullah in the Department of Interdisciplinary Islamic
Studies in collaboration with MORA and CIDA, which enabled students to receive
scholarships and enroll in a summer course at McGill University. He completed his
master research project on the hermeneutics of translation developed by Gadamer in
connection with the Tarjuman al-mustafid, the first complete Malay commentary from
seventeenth-century Aceh. Many faculty members at IAIN/UIN likewise benefited
from this collaboration.
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strengthen Qur’anic scholarship in UIN Yogyakarta.37
In contrast, IAIN (now UIN) Bukittinggi does not yet have experts,
senior lecturers or professors to teach Western studies on the Qur’an.
Courses on this subject only began when we visited this university in
October 2019. Nevertheless, lecturers did not reject the introduction of
Western scholarship on the Qur’an. According to the department head,
M. Zubir, M.A., courses on Western studies of the Qur’an are offered
in the department because they fulfill the obligation to comply with the
curriculum prescribed by the Indonesian Association of Qur’anic Studies.
He further claims that responses to these subjects are generally positive,
since most of the lecturers are young.38 In the focused-group discussion
we conducted at this university, Ilham Mustafa, M.A., stated that both
lecturers and students seemed to treat this topic merely as a discourse that
has no connection to their cultural background, which they honour more.
Hence, the Minangkabau people will not accept the ideas of Western
scholars (he mentioned Goldziher’s critique of the authenticity of hadiths,
line of transmission (sanad), and the values of justice of the Companions).
However, even though their views are not embraced, the subjects are
still taught; as Mustafa put it, “kesarjanaan Barat atau Orientalis tidak
dipakai sebagai sebuah kajian”39 (Western scholarship is not used as a
tool for study). This statement is motivated by the firm conviction that
the Minangkabau will never accept such a Western academic culture or
treat it as their ‘clothes’ (i.e., their ways of thinking).
D. Concluding Remarks
In this article, we have elucidated the present state of Qur’anic and
tafsīr Studies in Indonesia regarding engagement with Western scholarship
on the Qur’an. As a response to Daneshgar’s Studying the Qur’an in the
Muslim Academia, this article has demonstrated the plural approaches
provided by Indonesian Muslim scholars towards Western scholarship of
the Qur’an. This article also elaborates further Fina’s article, to include
not only the experience of UIN Yogyakarta, but also other four Islamic
universities.
Interview with Dr. Phil. Sahiron Syamsuddin on 3 December. 2019, in
Yogyakarta.
38
Interview with department head, M. Zubir, M.A., on 4 October 2019, in
Bukittinggi.
39
As narrated by Ilham Mustafa, M.A., during FGD on 4 October 2019, in
Bukittinggi.
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In the Qur’anic Studies departments that we studied, we found
that certain individuals with strong social and intellectual backgrounds
and seniority have influenced how the departments were oriented and
developed. This also includes how academics specializing in the Qur’an
and tafsīr, as well as the prospective graduates treated the Qur’an and
developed the study of it—that is, as a means to strengthen the beliefs of
the Muslim community or as material for scholarship. Our examination of
the reception of Western scholarship in the Qur’anic Studies departments
reveals that the mainstream perspectives are highly informed by the views
of certain powerful individuals, who imposed their stances on other
subordinate people, including those in charge of managing the program.
They encouraged students to either enlighten themselves by embracing
Western approaches, or reminded them that preserving Muslim doctrines
is the main goal of learning in the Department of Qur’anic Studies.
In the broader context, the reception of Western scholarship on
the Qur’an is strongly supported by Indonesian Islamic universities’
platforms, which aim to increase international academic collaborations
that frequently prioritize Western universities. Encouragement to accept
Western scholarship is also provided by the Indonesian Association
of Qur’anic Studies. As the national association that organizes annual
meetings to promote Qur’anic and tafsīr Studies in Indonesia, it has helped
determine the skills and competencies that graduates of Qur’anic and
tafsīr Studies departments acquire and master. The association has been
advocating Western scholarship and encouraging receptive attitudes
towards new ideas and approaches from different, but relevant fields of
study, such as those in the arts and humanities, as well as social sciences.
In more specific contexts, different situations resulted from how
influential individuals contributed to collective actions in attempting to
orient departments of Qur’anic Studies and their future graduates. In UIN
Alauddin Makassar, a Ph.D. graduate from a famous American university
who belonged to a respected religious family, emphatically rejected the
idea of including subjects on Western scholarship in the Department
of Qur’anic Studies curriculum. This rejection is due to his belief that
the department graduates should be oriented to become preachers and
ulama capable of guiding their fellow Muslims to the right path. It is
therefore not the objective of the Department of Qur’anic Studies to
produce Muslim thinkers or philosophers. Other departments, such as
Islamic philosophy, are better suited to actualize that particular objective.
At UIN Imam Bonjol, those in charge of administrating the faculty
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and departments collaborated together to ensure the inclusion of Western
scholarship in the curriculum. Although some lecturers reportedly
expressed reservations -echoing objections heard at UIN Alauddinthey ultimately allowed the faculty and department to proceed with the
curricular design as intended at IAIN (now UIN) Bukittinggi, a relatively
new institution, the absence of specialists in Western scholarship on the
Qur’an did not translate into resistance. On the contrary, faculty members
generally supported the inclusion of such courses at the undergraduate
level. Their support stemmed from a strong conviction that the
Minangkabau community would never internalize Western academic
paradigms or adopt them as their own ‘clothing’, that is, as frameworks of
thought. Finally, we observed that the Department of Qur’anic Studies
at UIN Jakarta has developed dynamically; Western Qur’anic scholarship
is subject to ongoing critical engagement by both lecturers and students.
Both paradigms for approaching Qur’anic Studies now appear to receive
similarly strong institutional and intellectual support.”
Acknowledgements
This research was financially supported by the Center for Research
and Social Engagement (Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengabdian Masyarakat, or
LP2M) UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. We express our gratitude and
thanks to our colleagues at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, UIN Sunan
Kalijaga Yogyakarta, and UIN Imam Bonjol Padang and IAIN (now UIN)
Bukittinggi for their active participation in our study during our visits to
their institutions. We are also grateful to the Indonesian Association of
Qur’anic Studies (Asosiasi Ilmu Al-Qur’an dan Tafsir, or AIAT) for their
support in conducting our preliminary survey. All shortcomings that
might be found in this article are, however, our responsibility.

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