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Ma'ruf urges Quranic students to be changemakers

Source
Jakarta Post - April 29, 2021

Jakarta – Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has urged students and graduates of the Institute of Quran Studies (IIQ) to play a bigger role in national development.

Speaking at an event on Thursday to celebrate the institute's 44th anniversary, the Vice President, who is also a prominent Muslim cleric and former chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), said that hafiz could implement Quranic values and teachings to effect social change.

"The IIQ should prepare its students, who will graduate and become agents of change in their communities. I believe the Quran can be a force for good," Ma'ruf said, as quoted by kompas.com.

Ma'ruf added that IIQ graduates who were hafiz could use the knowledge they had gained from memorizing the Quran to help build national identity. Further, the institute could help the government in its goal to improve Indonesia's human development index.

"Human resources should be judged not only on spiritual piety, but also on their ability to improve society," he said.

Prior to being elected Vice President in 2019, Ma'ruf was one of the most powerful and influential religious figures in Indonesia, which is predominantly Muslim.

He supported controversial regulations as chairman of the MUI, including the Pornography Law and a joint ministerial decree that banned the activities of minority Islamic group Ahmadiyah, saying in 2013 that the regulations were "very much expected".

The MUI groups the clerical members of all registered Muslim organizations, including Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Muhammadiyah and Islamic Union (Persis).

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2021/04/29/maruf-urges-quranic-students-to-be-changemakers.htm

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