Why Arab People Should Learn Islam in Indonesia

Indonesia, as the country with the largest Muslim population in the world (around 242.7 million people), is now positioning itself as a center for modern Islamic studies. Minister of Religious Affairs Nasaruddin Umar firmly stated that it is time for Middle Eastern countries, including Arab people, to turn to Indonesia to learn about Islam. This statement was made by Nasaruddin during the opening of the International Conference on Indonesian Islam at the State Islamic University Sunan Ampel (UINSA) in Surabaya on Wednesday (26/11/2025). The conference served as a platform to introduce Southeast Asian Islam, with Indonesia as the leader. ‘We need to prepare where the focus of idea implementation will be. We cannot stand alone as Indonesia; we must embrace Southeast Asian countries. Indonesia will definitely be the leader, but we also need to embrace them,’ Nasaruddin said, as reported by detikJatim. Minister Hopes Indonesian Books will be Translated into Arabic Nasaruddin explained that in the past, Indonesia learned a lot about Islam from the Middle East, as evidenced by the numerous Arabic books translated into Indonesian. However, he believes that the situation has now reversed. Instead, Indonesian Islamic books should be translated into Arabic. This aligns with the progress in various fields of Islamic scholarship that have rapidly developed in the country. ‘People from the Middle East, Arabs should learn about Islam in Indonesia. Whether it’s Islamic economics, democracy, politics, modern economics, and so on, they are asking to come to Indonesia,’ he stated. The Minister added that this perspective arises because Middle Eastern countries consider Indonesia as the ‘driving star’ or the driving force for the development of the modern Islamic epicenter.