Yusril urges young generation to study the thoughts of the nation's founders

Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra has urged the younger generation to study the thoughts of the nation’s founders. “The younger generation needs to continue reading, examining, and developing the intellectual heritage of the nation’s founders so that the values of nationalism, Islam, and democracy can continue to live on in the life of the state,” Yusril said in Jakarta on Sunday. He noted that one of the founders in question, Indonesia’s 5th Prime Minister Mohammad Natsir, is a figure who has inspired his own intellectual journey and thinking. According to Yusril, Natsir was a highly intelligent person who from a young age was already writing and articulating his various thoughts. These writings, he said, have been bequeathed to the Indonesian nation and remain highly relevant and inspiring to this day. Yusril recalled how history records Natsir’s involvement in sharp intellectual debates with Indonesia’s first President Soekarno regarding the relationship between Islam and the state, yet these differing views did not diminish their mutual respect or commitment to safeguarding Indonesia. “Today’s politics requires the integrity and maturity exemplified by Mr Natsir. Differing views are inevitable, but maintaining national unity and prioritising Indonesia’s interests must remain the main objective,” he said. For Yusril, the figure of Mohammad Natsir is not just part of the nation’s history, but a source of inspiration whose thoughts remain relevant for answering the challenges of contemporary Indonesia. Ahead of his doctoral promotion examination in philosophy at the University of Indonesia, the Coordinating Minister visited the grave of National Hero Mohammad Natsir at the Karet Bivak Public Cemetery in Jakarta on Wednesday (24/6). The private pilgrimage was a moment of reflection and tribute to Natsir. He also recalled his own youthful life journey, interacting with Natsir over a considerable period, from 1978 until the Masyumi figure’s passing in 1993. He said Natsir was a person who greatly inspired him, both in thought and action, leaving him with a deep longing for the leader. The Coordinating Minister therefore hopes the pilgrimage brings him wisdom, especially in continuing the tradition of scholarship, philosophical study, and the spirit of service to the nation, state, and community. The dissertation he will defend at the University of Indonesia is titled ‘A Reinterpretation of Mohammad Natsir’s Thought on the Relationship between Islam and the State: A Philosophical Study Using a Phenomenological-Existential Hermeneutics Approach’. Through this research, he offers a rereading of Natsir’s thoughts on the relationship between Islam and the state using a phenomenological-existential hermeneutics approach to understand the relevance of Natsir’s ideas in the context of national and state life in Indonesia today. “Mr Natsir is proof that Islam and democracy can go hand in hand in maintaining the nation’s integrity. His greatest legacy is not only the grand ideas he left behind, but also his exemplary conduct in politics and service to the country,” said Yusril.