University in Diversity
Prof. Asep Saepudin Jahar, M.A., Ph.D.
Rector of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta
When the QS World University Rankings (WUR) Asia 2026 was released in November, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta is listed among Indonesia’s top 42 universities and placed in the 801–850 band across Asia.
To some, this may appear to be a purely imaginary number. But I am more than sure that this milestone symbolizes something far more consequential: the rise of Islamic higher education on the global stage and the strengthening of Indonesia’s human-capital foundation as the country moves toward its 2045 national vision.
Strategic Significance for Indonesia
The OECD Skills Outlook 2025 notes that nations capable of navigating global turbulence are those that manage to strike a balance between research excellence, professional competence, and social integrity.
Building any of these requires a robust higher-education ecosystem. Against this backdrop, UIN Jakarta’s entry into Asia’s leading institutions and its placement alongside world-renowned universities such as Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Freiburg, Tilburg University, and the University of Queensland in the QS WUR 2026 subject ranking for theology, divinity, and religious studies are hardly a coincidence.
It demonstrates that Indonesia’s intellectual capital is becoming increasingly better and bigger. This accomplishment affirms several points:
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Islamic higher-education institutions (PTKINs) are integral to the nation’s knowledge landscape;
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Religious sciences and modern disciplines are inseparable, but they are the other sides of the same coin: faith and knowledge.
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Indonesia’s human-capital development requires moderate, civil, and future-oriented planning.
Within the context of national policy, UIN Jakarta’s achievement aligns with the government’s Indonesia Emas 2045 vision: that a nation’s strength no longer rests on natural resources but on the quality of its people.
Research, The DNA Of The Soul
QS Rankings do not measure popularity. They assess deeper fundamentals: academic reputation, research quality, citations, international publications, and global collaboration.
By entering the 801–850 Asia band, UIN Jakarta demonstrates measurable progress in faculty research productivity, reputable publications, international partnerships, and the relevance of its research to global issues.
This matters because national competitiveness begins with intellectual competitiveness. In The World is Flat (2005), Thomas Friedman argues that modern nations compete not through military conquest or natural resource hoarding but through knowledge governance.
With research becoming its institutional DNA, UIN Jakarta is moving deliberately toward that ecosystem. Here lies the legacy: PTKIN campuses have shown that religious scholarship does not hinder modernity; rather, it refines and strengthens its foundations.
Human-Capital Roles
In the next two decades, Indonesia will enter the largest demographic bonus in its history. Yet this bonus may become either an opportunity or a liability, depending on the quality of its human resources. The World Bank (2025) warns, “Countries with weak education systems face the sharpest middle-income trap in the 2040s.”
Thus, our university's strong performance in global rankings carries strategic implications:
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UIN Jakarta reinforces national confidence that excellent human capital can emerge from religious institutions.
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UIN Jakarta sets new benchmarks, proving that private universities can also achieve global quality..
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UIN Jakarta rejects the prejudice that PTKIN campuses lag in research and innovation. We advance on a holistic approach by integrating knowledge, faith, and ethics precisely as the formula needed in solving global moral crises.
Philosopher Martha Nussbaum, in Not for Profit (2010), asserts that universities should foster critical capacity and social empathy, not merely produce degree holders. From the Islamic perspective, Al-Ghazali describes knowledge as “a candle that guides from the dark toward the light.”
Thus, when UIN Jakarta rises in the regional rankings, the meaning extends beyond competition. It reflects excellence in character, research perseverance, academic ethics, and the shaping of a morally grounded generation ready to bear historical responsibility.
Therefore, education becomes a long-term civilizational investment with rankings serving as pinpoint. The ultimate aim is the formation of Indonesians with independent minds and elevated character.
The Legacy of PTKINs
For the first time in QS Ranking history, three PTKIN institutions appear in the Asia ranking: UIN Jakarta (801–850), UIN Malang (1,301–1,400), and UIN Bandung (1,401–1,500).
Apparently, PTKIN institutions have entered the global stage while the knowledge-religion model is gaining international recognition.
Indeed, UIN Jakarta is now comparable to that of leading global universities, including Cornell University (USA), Johns Hopkins University (USA), the University of Freiburg (Germany), the University of Queensland (Australia), the University of Warwick (UK), and Tilburg University (the Netherlands).
This represents an academic leapfrogging rarely recognized by the broader public. It also signals the rising importance of PTKIN institutions in Indonesia’s intellectual diplomacy.
I have always said this to my students: “Let us embed research, innovation, and international collaboration into the DNA of UIN Jakarta.”
This commitment is why we have strengthened laboratories, expanded international publications, broadened global networks, encouraged students to build interdisciplinary competencies, and upheld academic integrity.
These achievements are not personal triumphs; they are the collective work of the ministry, faculty, students, staff, alumni, and global partners. Without them, such an achievement in the QS WUR Rankings seems impossible.
A New Dawn
What does all this mean for Indonesia? In simple terms: The nation is shifting its foundations from reliance on natural resources to reliance on human capability.
The world today faces a crisis of technological ethics, political polarization, and the disruptive power of AI. In this context, Indonesia must cultivate professional individuals capable of leading the way.
With its long tradition of integrating faith and knowledge, UIN Jakarta is well positioned to contribute to that age. Futurist Alvin Toffler once wrote, “Future blindness arises from education that teaches only what has already been passed down from generations.”
Universities, therefore, must keep their students 'living' in the future, not in the past, since we cannot rewind the time. It is not a fleeting moment of celebration but a signpost in the long journey toward producing excellent human capital.
With their position among global universities, PTKIN institutions now demonstrate that the integration of knowledge and faith is a strength, that research and civility can advance together, that Indonesia can compete internationally, and that the nation’s future rests in the hands of a generation trained in both intellectual rigor and moral clarity.
The Indonesia Emas 2045 will not emerge from slogans but from universities that work every single day, researching, teaching, guiding, and shaping character of our descendants. This is the way.
This article was originally published in Disway.id on Friday (21/11/2025)