REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia, based on the Presidential Regulation No. 57 of the year 2016, will establish an international university of Islam, according to Vice President M Jusuf Kalla.

"The government will soon set up a big international university of Islam. In this, participation of ulemas (Muslim scholars) and habaib (those who have a genealogical connection to the Prophet Muhammad) will be needed," the Vice President said in his opening remarks at the 24th National Congress of Rabithah Alawiyah, a social organization, here on Saturday.

The university is expected to become a center of Islamic studies, similar to those in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

As the world's largest Muslim majority country, Indonesia needs an international-class Islamic higher education institution.

The planned state-owned university will be managed by relevant ministries, such as the education ministry, the religious affairs ministry, and the foreign affairs ministry.

The university will have Magistrate and Doctorate programs in Islamic study, social and humanitarian studies, sciences and technology.

The university will be built using funds from the State Budget (APBN) and non-APBN funds, and the project will move ahead in line with the existing laws on state higher education.

In his address, Kalla also mentioned that Indonesian Muslims still face problems, such as when it comes to capability to do business or master sciences and technology.

Therefore, he called on the ulemas and habaib to help improve the Muslims' knowledge of and capacity to do business.

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