Yusril Ihza Mahendra Earns Doctorate in Philosophy from UI, Emphasises Ethics of Civilisation

Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, has officially earned a Doctorate degree from the Philosophy Study Programme, Faculty of Humanities (FIB), University of Indonesia (UI). This academic achievement was attained after he successfully defended his dissertation in an Open Doctoral Promotion Session held at the UI Depok Campus, West Java, on Thursday (2/7). In his presentation, Yusril emphasised that the foundation of a state cannot rely solely on formal aspects. According to him, democracy, the constitution, justice, and human rights require the support of morality and civilisational ethics for a state to stand firm. “A state cannot be built merely on the concepts of democracy, constitution, justice, and human rights, but requires morality and civilisational ethics as a foundation to stand firm,” said Yusril. He argued that the state administration system cannot function optimally without religious values and morality serving as the spirit of national life. Yusril also underlined that the development of civilisational ethics is not solely the responsibility of individuals or religious figures, but requires the active role of the state in shaping national character. The dissertation he defended was titled “Reinterpreting Mohammad Natsir’s Thoughts on the Relationship between Islam and the State: A Philosophical Study with a Phenomenological-Existential Hermeneutic Approach”. Through this research, he re-examined the thoughts of national figure Mohammad Natsir regarding the relationship between religion and the state. Yusril assessed that Natsir’s thoughts remain highly relevant for addressing contemporary challenges, such as corrupt practices and abuse of authority. These social problems, according to him, cannot be resolved merely through regulation or the establishment of new institutions, but must be addressed through the strengthening of public ethics. This academic journey took Yusril five years amidst his busy schedule as a state official. “Alhamdulillah, today I was able to defend this dissertation before the examiners. The demands of being a public official indeed made the completion process take time, but I am grateful to have finally finished it,” he stated. Based on the assessment results of the examination panel, Yusril was declared to have passed with a Very Satisfactory distinction. The session was attended by a number of important figures, ranging from ministers to heads of high state institutions. Officials who attended to provide direct support included Minister of Religious Affairs Nasaruddin Umar, National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, Deputy Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections Otto Hasibuan, Deputy Minister of Housing and Settlement Areas Fahri Hamzah, Speaker of the Regional Representative Council Sultan Bachtiar Najamudin, and Jimly Asshiddiqie. Going forward, Yusril plans to refine several parts of his dissertation for publication as a book so that it can be accessed by the wider public and serve as an academic reference in legal development in Indonesia.