UIN Jakarta Rector: Asep Saepudin Jahar Asserts Regarding the Historical Lineage of Progressive Islamic Thought and the Crucial Need for Academic Regeneration
JAKARTA, Harun Nasution Auditorium – Framing the event as a monumental baseline for institutional continuity the Rector of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta Professor Asep Saepudin Jahar has formally connected the contemporary philosophy of Minister Nasaruddin Umar to the historic intellectual lineage of the campus. Speaking on July 16 2026 during the grand unveiling of Umar's new three-volume treatise the Rector declared that the assembly acts as an aggressive campaign to revitalize the school’s identity as the definitive epicenter of progressive Islamic renaissance in Southeast Asia.
The institutional briefing gathered top executive delegates including the Coordinating Minister for Law Professor Yusril Ihza Mahendra alongside state chancellors senior theologians and international researchers.
In his opening address Rector Jahar strategically contextualized the geopolitical importance of UIN Jakarta in shaping the modern Indonesian nation-state. He reminded the international gallery that the campus has historically generated the primary architects of Islamic modernization citing the monumental legacies of late scholars Professor Harun Nasution and Dr. Nurcholish Madjid.
"This high-level book deployment is completely removed from superficial academic ceremonies," Rector Jahar fiercely stated. "It represents a systematic institutional effort to sustain and accelerate the rigorous intellectual tradition that has defined UIN Jakarta for decades."
The Rector extended high executive commendation to the Road Leader Global Media network and its leadership under Muhammad Saleh Mude for orchestrating the strategic academic launch. Jahar asserted that the academic community must actively protect this legacy ensuring that the modern generation of doctoral and post-graduate researchers can successfully adapt classical doctrines to contemporary human struggles.
Analyzing the specific contents of the newly launched volumes, the Rector highly praised Umar’s innovative frameworks. He targeted five specific analytical streams for immediate cross-campus research integration:
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Gender Hermeneutics and Social Hermeneutics: Restructuring legal text interpretations to secure total protection for women and minor groups within modern social institutions.
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Eco-Sufism and Ecotheology: Leveraging deep spiritual philosophy to build active defenses against global environmental crises.
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Psychosufism: Employing spiritual psychology to mitigate modern societal alienation.
Importantly the Rector expanded the institutional mandate beyond UIN Jakarta stating that the development of these advanced paradigms is the absolute responsibility of the entire State Islamic Higher Education (PTKIN) network across Indonesia. He called for an immediate strategic integration between classical Islamic sciences and modern STEM disciplines to ensure that religious universities remain actively relevant in solving concrete global crises.
Concluding his presentation the Rector ordered that Umar’s treatises be immediately institutionalized as primary source materials to drive future undergraduate theses master’s dissertations and doctoral research projects nationwide.
(Meisa/Zaenal/Arifin/Photo: Azka Raysa)