Islamic Education in Indonesia

Abstract

This chapter attempts to delineate the complex and rich history of Islamic education in Indonesia. The chapter however will pay attention only on major aspects of the history of Islamic education in Indonesia with a particular attention given to its process of modernization in the modern times. The history of Islamic education in Indonesia is a very distinctive one com- pared to that of other areas of the Muslim world, particularly since the period of the coming of European powers up until today. But there is no doubt that the rise and development of Islamic education in Indonesia were closely linked with the spread and dynamics of Islam in the country. The Dutch colonialism in Indonesia since the early sixteenth century did not result in the decline of Islamic education. During this period, Islamic educational institutions did not only survive but also began in earnest to make certain adjustment by adopting certain aspects of European education. This is very clear in the rise of madrasah that introduced classical system and curriculum, for instance; this in turn led “traditional” Islamic educational institutions such as pondok or pesantren to also modernize themselves. Education is at the core of Islamic teachings leading the preachers of Islam, ‘ulamā’, and Muslim rulers since the early history of Indonesian Islam to employ mosques and langgar as well as to adopt existing local institutions such as surau and pesantren or pondok as the places for Muslims to study Islam. A new momentum in the modernization of Islamic education in Indonesia has taken place in the last three decades at least. There are two historical courses that have been adopted: firstly, by fully integrating Islamic educational institutions into national education which are run and financed by the government and, secondly, by making standardization of Islamic education in accordance with national standards while the ownership and administration remain mostly in the hands of Muslim organizations and communities.