Indonesia
Malang, December 9, 2022 — The Doctoral Programme (S3) in Multicultural Islamic Religious Education (PAI Multikultural) at Universitas Islam Malang (UNISMA) has conferred two new doctoral degrees, specialising in Conflict Resolution and Sociology of Education, following open dissertation defences held on Friday, 9 December 2022.
Ali Ismunadi was the first to be conferred, with a specialisation in the sociology of education, followed by Muhammad Riza, whose specialisation is in conflict resolution.
Ismunadi’s Research: Multicultural Islamic Education at a Pluralist School
Ali Ismunadi successfully defended his dissertation titled “Multicultural Islamic Religious Education at SMA Karangturi Semarang.”
Ismunadi explained that Karangturi Senior High School is one of the oldest educational institutions in the region. Originally established as a school for the ethnic Chinese community, it has since evolved into a genuinely multicultural institution. Notably, the majority of its teaching staff are Muslim, while most students identify as Christian — both Catholic and Protestant — with Muslim students comprising approximately five percent of the total student body.
Among the key findings of his research were values embedded in the school’s educational culture, including mutual acquaintance, camaraderie, social etiquette, the Javanese concept of asah asih asuh (nurturing and caring), tolerance, empathy, role-modelling, friendship, and community bonds (silaturahmi). Entrepreneurial values modelled by the institution’s founders and reinforced through a strong alumni network were also found to strengthen a sense of community among graduates.
Islamic values were found to be particularly prominent in the school’s educational approach, given that a number of students come from non-Muslim family backgrounds.
Multicultural activities at the school include interfaith pilgrimage visits: Muslim students visit the shrine at Nyatnyono, while Catholic students attend the Goa Maria grotto in Salatiga. Notably, students of both faiths visit both sites — with non-Muslim students joining their peers at Nyatnyono (participating in non-religious activities within the shrine complex) and Muslim students similarly accompanying their Catholic counterparts to Goa Maria.
Riza’s Research: Conflict Resolution at an Acehnese Islamic Boarding School
Muhammad Riza defended his dissertation titled “The Implementation of Multicultural Islamic Religious Education Values as a Foundation for Conflict Resolution: A Study of the Learning Process at Dayah Ma’hadal Ulum Diniyah Islamiyah Mesjid Raya, Samalaga, Aceh.”
Riza explained that the dayah, a traditional Islamic boarding school in Aceh is inseparable from Acehnese society. The institution examined, Dayah Mudi Mesra al-Aziziyah Samalaga, shares characteristics with the broader pesantren tradition in Indonesia. The term dayah itself is derived from the Arabic zawiyah, a tradition introduced to the region through Arab scholarly influence.
His research identified two categories of conflict resolution values present within the dayah system: preventive values and curative values. Riza argues that the conflict resolution capacities demonstrated by the dayah community do not emerge spontaneously, but are rather formed through engagement with classical Islamic textual scholarship (turats klasik), a living tradition deeply embedded within Acehnese society.
Expert Commentary
Prof. Dr. Imam Suprayogo, serving as one of the examination panel members, suggested that formal schools and traditional dayah institutions could be integrated with contemporary needs in the management of natural resources — particularly in the fields of agriculture, forestry, and maritime affairs.
Muhammad Riza, a lecturer at IAIN Gajah Putih, emphasised that the key values to be championed in mitigating conflict are equity (fairness) and equality — both essential to the realisation of a genuinely multicultural society.
Examination Panel
The open doctoral examinations for both candidates were chaired by Prof. Dr. Djunaidi Ghony, with Prof. Junaidi, M.Pd., Ph.D. serving as secretary. Additional panel members included Prof. Dr. Imam Suprayogo, Prof. Dr. Yaqub Cikusin, M.Si., Prof. Dr. Abdul Haris, M.A., Prof. H. M. Maskuri, M.Si., and Prof. H.M. Mas’ud Said, M.M., Ph.D. (AL/PPS)
