Indonesia to launch certified programme for preachers

Indonesia’s Religious Affairs Ministry will soon launch a certified programme for thousands of preachers in the predominantly Muslim country to improve their national insights, according to an official.

Sep 12, 2020

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Religious Affairs Ministry will soon launch a certified programme for thousands of preachers in the predominantly Muslim country to improve their national insights, according to an official.

Kamaruddin Amin, the ministry’s director general of Islamic education, said in a statement on Sept 7 that the program will be launched by the end of this month and will target 8,200 preachers from all six recognised religions — Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Hinduism — for the first batch this year.

The programme will involve religious organisations including the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and government institutions including the Agency for Pancasila Ideology Education (BPIP) and the National Counterterrorism Agency.

Pancasila, or five principles, refers to the national ideology that  stipulates belief in one God, a just and civilised society, a united Indonesia, democracy guided by consensus, and social justice for all citizens.

Amin, however, said the programme will not be binding. “A certified programme for preachers aims to improve preachers’ capacities. They will be given certificates after completing the programme. Also, professional certification is given to lecturers and teachers, who are paid in accordance with the existing standard after being certified,” he said.

“It does not mean that those who do not have certificates cannot preach or that those who have certificates can preach,” he added, calling the programme “an affirmation.”

Fr Antonius Benny Susetyo, an expert at the BPIP, acknowledged  that Indonesia — a country with diverse religions — must provide preachers with insights on plurality and diversity.

“Religious leaders in Indonesia must deliver sermons containing the values of Pancasila and interreligious harmony,” said the priest, former executive secretary of the Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs at the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference.

“Certification is not an issue. The most important thing is that religious leaders have the responsibility to maintain national insights: their commitment to maintaining unity. This must become ‘a habitus’ among religious leaders in Indonesia,” he said.

Fr Susetyo claimed the planned certified programme for preachers has no connection to the government’s fight against radicalism. “We must see it in the context of maintaining nationality. There must be universal religious values that we can agree with,” he said.

Meanwhile, Abidin Wakano, a Muslim preacher and an adviser to the MUI Maluku chapter, suggested that the program should be carried out continually. “Never focus merely on certification. An ongoing program is what matters,” he said.

He believes that the programme will be more effective “if it also involves the state Islamic universities and colleges and the Islamic boarding schools because they have good comprehensive study methods.”

“Real certification is not about a piece of paper but a transformation of knowledge. And it can be done through education and training programs,” Wakano said. ––ucanews. com

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