Egypt’s Al-Azhar University and Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) covering cooperation in education, research, community service, and development of institutional resources.

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Director of Islamic Higher Education, Sahiron, representing the Minister of Religion Nasaruddin Umar, and the Director General of Islamic Education, Suyitno, attended the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII) and Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.

The signing of the MoU took place on  UIII campus, Indonesia’s Depok city, Wednesday (Feb. 19), according to the Indonesian Ministry of Religion in a written statement quoted by Indonesia Window on Saturday.

The MoU covers cooperation in education, research, community service, and development of institutional resources.

Sahiron said that the Ministry of Religion will continue to support UIII in developing higher education in various aspects.

Moreover, UIII is the first international Islamic university in Indonesia and now has Strata 2 and Strata 3 study programs. In the near future, the university will open a Strata 1 study program that focuses on science and technology.

"Al Azhar not only has religious faculties, but also has faculties of medicine, engineering, science and so on. So, this collaboration does not only focus on Islamic studies, but also in other fields of science," Sahiron said.

He explained, both Al-Azhar and UIII have the same goal, namely to build a society that is not only religious, but also intelligent in responding to the development of the times, so that a moderate religious society is created.

"Since Al Azhar was built, there have been many studies of turats that have never been revived, for example medical works from the Islamic world, technical literature in which at that time, scholars also wrote books about it. So with this collaboration, later these old books can be studied," he said.

Since 2023, UIII has received two professors from Al-Azhar who are teaching at the master's level specifically for Classical Islamic studies which opened in the 2023-2024 academic year.

This also confirms the commitment that both UIII and Al Azhar have a responsibility in building a moderate, inclusive, and contextual Islamic civilization.

Reporting by Indonesia Window