Minister Of Religion: Islamic Boarding Schools Must Develop Turats-Based Intellectual Traditions

Minister of Religion Nasaruddin Umar stated that pesantren must develop critical intellectual traditions based on turats through a multidisciplinary approach, ranging from semantics, phylogies, to anthropology, so that these classic properties remain alive and relevant.

"Not all yellow books can be called turats. Books are works written by qualified scholars, who live the basic philosophy of the Koran and hadith, and are able to raise human dignity and get closer to Allah," said Minister of Religion Nasaruddin in his statement in Jakarta, Saturday.

The statement was made by Minister of Religion Nasaruddin when opening the International Halaqah at the Asadiyah Islamic Boarding School in Sengkg, Wajo Regency, South Sulawesi. This forum raises the theme "Socio-Ecological Transformation and Turats-Based Epistemological Solution".

The Minister of Religion reminded the importance of comprehensive reading as ordered by the Al Quran.

He explained that there are three main objects of reading for every Muslim, especially the students, namely reading the universe (macro cosmos), reading verses that penetrate into humans (micro cosmos), and reading the holy book Al Quran (wahyu).

"The first is to read the universe, the second is to read verses that permeat in humans, and the third is to read the holy book Al Quran," said Nasaruddin.

According to him, the word iqra does not just mean reciting letters, but also collecting them. Such as trees that collect roots, stems, leaves, and fruit or humans that collect all macro elements of the cosmos in him.

"The most perfect set is humans. Therefore, Ibnu Abahi said that actually the macro cosmos is a human being, not a universe," he said.

However, the Minister of Religion emphasized that pesantren should not stop at mere textual reading.

He said the Qur'an must be understood not only as us (a sign for all humans), but also as a calamullah (a statement from Allah that can only be accessed through piety and spiritual depth).

"Let us not be proud just because we memorize the Koran or are able to interpret it. Above the sky there is still the sky. There is still the deepest layer, namely the Haqaiq Al Quran," said the Grand Imam of the Istiqlal Mosque.

He then unraveled the four levels of recitation of the Koran, namely the text of the Qur'an, the signs of the Qur'an, the late Al Qur'an, and the haqaiq of the Qur'an.

The Minister of Religion also reminded that reading in Islam should not be narrowed only in the textual dimension. The iqra tradition must be supported by critical awareness of social and ecological reality, with turats as its epistemological basis.

"The Quran is not just information, but also confirmation. Reading the Quran means reading nature, reading oneself, then confirming everything with revelation. That is a scientific tradition of pesantren that must continue to be developed," said Nasaruddin.

Meanwhile, the Director General of Islamic Education at the Ministry of Religion, Amien Suyitno, emphasized the importance of the contextualization of maqashid al-syariah so that religion is always relevant to the times.

He highlighted the chapter of the thahrah in fiqh which is often understood narrowly, even though it actually contains ecological messages.

"Maintaining water is part of the thahrah. It means maintaining cleanliness and the environment as well as worship. This is a form of ecology, reading life and nature with the Al Quran as well as supported by understanding tourism," he said.

Suyitno emphasized that pesantren has a strategic role in producing fiqh that is responsive to modern issues, including environmental crises.

"With turats as the foundation and reality as a praxis field, this halaqah is expected to produce ideas that can be a reference for public policy," he said.