Ministry of Religious Affairs equips religious educators with knowledge of the new Criminal Code

Religious and legal literacy within the community still needs to be strengthened significantly.

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Religious Affairs is equipping religious educators with legal literacy, particularly concerning the implementation of the new Criminal Code, to ensure that religious outreach and educational activities within the community remain in line with current regulations.

The Director of Islamic Affairs and Sharia Guidance at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Arsad Hidayat, underlined the urgency of understanding the latest developments in criminal law that relate to religion and belief. He believes that a lack of public understanding of regulations can trigger friction between religious communities.

“Religious and legal literacy within the community still needs to be strengthened significantly,” said Arsad in a statement in Jakarta, Friday.

Arsad cited the incident of the burning of the Padepokan Saung Taraju Jumantara in Tasikmalaya in April 2026 as a stark reminder of the importance of legal literacy.

Religious educators, preachers, and speakers are expected to be able to analyse the changes in regulations so that the religious messages they convey do not violate legal provisions.

“Every religious outreach activity must be in line with current legal provisions to avoid misunderstandings or conflicts in society,” he said.

In addition to formal legal aspects, Arsad encouraged that the content of religious sermons be packaged contextually, especially in facing the challenges of the digital era and ethics in social media.

“How do we educate people to have digital ethics and to verify information before spreading it on social media?” said Arsad.

First, revive Islamic reform. Second, increase dialogue between faiths or religious groups that touches on the level of social interaction to create strong social cohesion. Third, improve literacy of religious texts. According to him, if every religious person understands their respective religious teachings better, they can build better and more harmonious relations with different groups.