In late October 2022, Pradana Boy ZTF, a lecturer from the Islamic Family Law (HKI) program, attended an international conference held by a think-tank organization at a university in southeastern Turkey. The conference, titled Pluralism, Democracy, and Economic Development in Muslim Majority Countries, brought together speakers from various universities and Islamic institutions worldwide.
Pradana Boy, who earned his Ph.D. from the National University of Singapore (NUS), presented a paper on the movement for religious moderation in Indonesia. He argued that intolerance, extremism, radicalism, and terrorism are threats found across all religious traditions and societies. To address these challenges, he proposed three approaches: legal and forceful measures, psychological affection, and cognitive intervention.
"Religious moderation is one way to combat radicalism by employing cognitive intervention," explained the lecturer, originally from Lamongan.
As part of an affiliation with Indonesia's top Islamic university, Pradana Boy highlighted the importance of internationalization as a means to broaden perspectives, exchange ideas, and seek universal commonalities in building a better future for humanity. He emphasized that internationalization should also be understood as an exchange of values.
In many international forums attended by Pradana Boy, the “Indonesian experience,” “Islam in Indonesia,” or “Muhammadiyah’s experience” frequently became central themes of discussion. He noted that these topics are well-suited for presentation at international conferences because they represent areas where Indonesian scholars have deep expertise.
"The experiences I shared in Turkey can easily be observed in various universities in Indonesia. However, one positive takeaway is that such realities demonstrate the presence of an internationalization vision within each institution," remarked Pradana Boy, who currently serves as Vice Dean I at the Faculty of Islamic Studies.
"The next task is not only to keep the flame of this vision alive but also to find channels that allow this flame to spread into its appropriate domains and ultimately produce meaningful outcomes," he concluded.
ISLAMIC FAMILY LAW
