Indonesia
Malang – Postgraduate Program and Faculty of Islamic Studies (FAI) at UNISMA held an international seminar featuring prominent Islamic studies scholar Prof. Ahmad Sunawari bin Long, Dean of the Faculty of Islamic Studies at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). The seminar, titled “Enculturation of Islamic Education Values in the Postnormalism Era,” attracted hundreds of participants, including undergraduate and postgraduate students from FAI and UNISMA’s postgraduate programs.
The seminar was officially opened by Director of the Postgraduate Program Prof. H. M. Mas’ud Said, MM., Ph.D., who noted that the event formed part of an academic collaboration previously established between UNISMA and UKM.
“We previously visited UKM, and today we are honored to host Prof. Sunawari Long, who will stimulate academic discussion on postnormalism,” he said.
UNISMA Rector Prof. Junaidi Mistar, M.Pd., Ph.D., emphasized the urgency of discussing Islamic educational values amid increasingly complex global transformations.
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Held on the seventh floor of the Ali bin Abi Tholib Building, the seminar drew strong enthusiasm, with approximately 200 students ranging from undergraduate to doctoral levels in attendance.
In his keynote presentation, Prof. Sunawari explained that the world is currently entering an era of Postnormalism, characterized by three defining conditions: chaos, complexity, and contradiction. He argued that these conditions require deeper engagement with Islamic values to ensure adaptability and continued relevance in a rapidly changing world.
“Post-normal times (PNT) present both opportunities and risks. On the positive side, they open space for innovation, new ideas and solutions, encourage multidimensional problem-solving, and foster personal enrichment through tabayun, ihsan, and khilafah,” Prof. Sunawari said.
“Conversely, PNT also poses significant challenges for Islamic education, including technological disruption, tensions between tradition and modernization, and the growing diversity of worldviews,” he added.
Students followed the session attentively and expressed hopes that similar academic forums would be held more frequently to broaden their understanding of global issues in contemporary Islamic studies.
The seminar is expected to serve as an important foundation for developing Islamic education curricula capable of responding to the challenges of the Postnormalism era while contributing meaningfully to Islamic education in Indonesia and the wider global context.
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