UIN Maliki Malang Forges Ulama-Spirited Intellectuals in the Digital Era

Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Maulana Malik Ibrahim (Maliki) Malang is reinforcing its position as a pioneering higher education institution that has successfully integrated the pesantren system with university studies to meet the challenges of the digital era. Through the mandatory boarding programme at Ma’had Al-Jamiah Sunan Ampel al-Ali (MSAA), all new UIN Maliki students, regardless of their study programme, are moulded for one year to strengthen their emotional, intellectual, and spiritual intelligence. Head of the Ma’had Al-Jamiah Centre at UIN Maliki Malang, East Java, Dr Ahmad Izzudin, stated that this integrative concept, pioneered in 2000, was created to restore the effectiveness of religious education in its original habitat. This educational model has been widely adopted by various State Islamic Religious Higher Education Institutions (PTKIN) and madrasahs in Indonesia. The learning system at Ma’had MSAA is based on classifying students’ initial abilities. Students with prior pesantren experience are directed to advanced classes, such as tafsir and writing, while those unable to read the Quran are guided from the basic level without affecting their formal lecture burden. This inclusive policy also applies to foreign and non-Muslim students, with material adjustments made in cooperation with relevant religious institutions. The mandatory boarding programme will be fully implemented at UIN Malang’s Campus 3, an area dubbed the ‘Exotic Campus’ by the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture for the 2019-2024 period, Muhadjir Effendy. To mark the end of the one-year education period, the mahasantri hold an inauguration ceremony (muwadaah). Unlike an evaluation of academic achievement, muwadaah is designed as a showcase of creativity. Ma’had Al-Jamiah UIN Malang Operational Service Officer Mochamad Agus Nurcahyo, S.Psi., explained that this year’s creative performance carries the theme ‘Horizon’, defined as the midpoint of the skyline. This theme reflects the students’ gratitude for the opportunity to learn both general and religious knowledge. ‘Through this theme, the creative team wants to provide a testimony and beautiful memories of the mahasantri’s journey, from the start of living at the Ma’had, the emotional moment of being delivered by their parents, the drama of being woken for dawn prayers, to graduation, captured in the form of short video clips on social media,’ said Mochamad Agus Nurcahyo. This step aligns with UIN Malang’s vision to produce a generation of ulama with intellectual spirit and intellectuals with ulama spirit, akin to the Muslim philosophers of the Abbasid Dynasty’s golden age such as Al-Farabi, Ibn Khaldun, and Ibn Sina. Lumbung Coin Eco-Resort Director Rosantika assessed that the one-year period at Ma’had adopts a concept similar to an intensive training boot camp to sharpen the students’ specialisation categories. With this pesantren foundation and professional maturity, Ma’had graduates are expected to possess strong moral resilience and digital adaptation skills after they no longer reside in the dormitory. As a continuation of the independence programme, the Muslim-friendly resort located in Malang provides a practical intensive training programme that can help students generate their own income to finance their future accommodation needs. The location combines an eco-friendly concept with complete digital facilities, making it a representative alternative space for the activities of digital workers and the younger generation.