This publication presents a broad overview of the religious relations between the Arab Middle East and Indonesia over roughly the last five hundred years. It shows that the Middle East has always held and continues to hold an extremely important place in Islamic life in Indonesia, but that, especially since independence, Middle Eastern Islam is being engaged with more critically, and that Salafism and other intolerant and radical forms of Islam from the Middle East are being combatted on an ideological level by propagating the specific Indonesian understanding of Islam, called Islam Nusantara.

The current trend of social and political fracture among Indonesian people has permeated many aspects of life, including religious domain. While moderate Muslims are still majority, the voice of conservative and also element of radical Muslim groups has shown a great militancy in campaigning for their agenda. Rivalry among those groups in the public discourse is unavoidable. This study examines the contested idea of ‘Islam Nusantara’ in the effort to campaign for moderate and friendly Islam in the early of Joko Widodo’s administration. Since conservative and radical factions have rejected the idea of Pancasila state, accusing of other Muslims of being kafir (apostasy) and the spirit to eliminate local cultures, their counterparts use different agenda and approach. The moderate Muslims use the concept of Islam Nusantara to campaign for the concept of Islam and nationalism, respect for diversity and cultural approaches. This study reveals the different point of view of Muslim groups regarding the concept and practice of Islam Nusantara which has become a controversy since the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) used it as the main theme in the 33rd congress. Although ‘Islam Nusantara’ is not a new term in the discourse of Indonesian Islam, the contestation and consensus have produced a new fragmentation of religious opinions among Indonesian Muslims. This research aims to explore the sociology of knowledge among Indonesian Muslims whose inclination has been devided into two big streams of moderate and conservative wing.

This article discusses several definitions of Islamic education and gives guidelines to clarify the use of the definition. The article describes that the definition depicts the typology of Islamic education and institutions related to it. This will explain the different concepts that depend on the context of Islamic education, especially with regard to pondok pesantren. Later, the article elucidates the theoretical conception of Islamic education based on the Qur’an and hadith. This article argues that the primary motivation of the holistic approach of ‘Islamic education’ of pesantren can be used as the representative of Islamic education in the world that teaches religious moderation.