The 5th International Conference on Qur’an Discusses the Problems of Qur’anic Teaching in Indonesia and their Solutions

The World Organization of Al-Qur’an and Sunnah, Haiah Al-‘Alamiyah Lil Kitabi wa As-Sunnah, hold again the Qur’an International Conference. This time is the fifth conference. Once again Daarul Qur’an Institute for Qur’an Memorization located in Ketapang, Tangerang, is trusted to become the host. The conference itself is held in Siti Hotel Tangerang from 11 to 13 October 2018.

Taking the theme of Qur’anic Teaching between Hope and Reality, this event is attended by 92 delegations from various Qur’an Institutes for Qur’an Memorization throughout Indonesia which are included in the organization of Rabithah Pesantren Tahfizh se-Indonesia. Those present in this conference are Syeikh Dr Anaz Khorzun (Haiah leader), Syeikh Dr Khalid Abdul Kaafi (Deputy Secretary General of The World Organization of Al-Qur’an and Sunnah for Science and Education), Prof. Dr. Ahsin Sakho, MA (Expert on the Holy Qur’an from Indonesia).

The conference is a routine event held by the Haiah to discuss a number of problems related to Qur’anic education in Indonesia. In this event the participants have some discussions to find solutions, ideas, and thoughts on Qur’anic teaching Indonesia.

In his opening speech, Anaz Khorzun hopes that the participants of this conference will bring home to their countries new ideas and thoughts on Qur’anic teaching for their own institutes. He also reminds the participants to execute some recommendations which had been executed in the previous conference.

“It our homework that after this conference all the participants will execute what we have discussed here,” he says.

He mentions some previous recommendations which had been made in the 3^rd Conference in Pondok Wadi Mubarok (Wadi Mubarok Islamic Boarding School). At that time the conference resulted in some recommendations such as giving attention to new Qur’an memorizers (huffazh) in order that they continuously develop their Qur’an memorization by joining a certification program for Sanad acquisition and also in order that a number of Qur’anic events are aired in TV programs.

Meanwhile, K H Anwar Effendy, Lc., an educator of Utsmani Islamic Boarding School, West Jakarta, says at least two major issues will be discussed in this event; the first is the new gaps between the huffazh in the old era and the ones in the recent days. In the old era, the Qur’an memorizers had a high motivation to acquire the Sanad certificate whereas we find very few recent huffazh have such a motivation. The second is related to the high degree of Qur’anic illiteracy in Indonesia. He hopes this conference will discuss the solutions for those problems.

KH Ahmad Jamil, the Chairman of Daarul Quran, says the theme of this conference is very good, considering the non-uniformity of standards for Qur’anic teaching in Indonesia. He also sees that the Qur’an-based education in Indonesia grows amazingly and it must be paid much attention by all of us in order to produce high quality Qur’an memorizers.

In general there are some important points resulted from this conference:

1. To affirm and strengthen the Indonesian Association of Qur’an Institutes, to hold dauroh (assembly for Islamic studies) in order to socialize the existence of Indonesian Association of Qur’an Institutes as well as invites other Qur’an institutes to join.
2. To maintain the quality of memorization in terms of its strength and the correctness of reading for Qur’an Sanad certification. It is prohibited to underestimate or oversimplify the issuance of the certificate without considering the quality of memorization and recitation.
3. To establish a Reading Center (Markaz Iqra’) through the Indonesian Association of Qur’an Institutes which will become the center of reference for all Qur’an institutes (boarding houses) in Indonesia.
4. To hold dauroh with special trainings for both male and female instructors of Qur’anic teaching.
5. To integrate and gather the Qur’an memorizers in various events related to the Holy Qur’an, and into a “teaching program” for people from all levels and various groups and communities.
6. To organize the programs producing permanent cadres for the Islamic foundations and institutes engaged in the areas related to the Holy Qur’an in order to maximize the spread of Qur’anic teaching in Indonesia.
7. To pay attention to the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad SAW, both in the learning curriculum and the daily life of all students of Qur’an Memorization at all levels.
8. To maintain and pay attention to character building and Qur’anic personality instillation into the students’ mind.
9. To set up curriculum for female students of Qur’an Memorization in accordance with the female character from the perspectives of interpretation science, Islamic jurisprudence, and so on.
10. To establish a certification committee for issuing Qur’an Sanad Certificate and build a permanent office with routine activities in its management.
11. To ask for grand-teachers (syeikhs) and teachers who have been successful in bringing about Qur’an memorizers to give dauroh seminars in other Qur’an institutes (boarding schools) or foundations.
12. To recommend all Qur’an institutes (boarding schools) to implement the curriculum or manhaj from Haiah Al-‘Alamiyyah, and try to print the books provided by Haiah Al-‘Alamiyyah to be distributed to the Qur’an institutes all over Indonesia.
13. To instill in the students’ mind the importance of making plans for their future and the benefits for them.
14. To continuously keep the track of the student development after graduating from the institutes or foundations, as well as to set up a recruitment and cadre development program and to serve and dedicate for the Holy Qur’an.
15. To take advantages of the modern technology development for spreading Qur’anic teaching in Indonesia.
16. To pay attention to the curriculum related to the comprehension (tadabbur) of the Holy Qur’an and its implementation.
17. To pay attention and take advantages of communication media and tools available nowadays through a cooperation with TV and radio stations and all other media in Indonesia.
18. To establish a university of Qur’an in Indonesia under the supervision of Rabithah Al-Ma’ahid Al-Quraniyyah in Indonesia.