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| Robert John Pope who told the story of studying Islam at UMM (Photo: Two Bagus/Humas) |
Studying Islam and entering into its community is different from what is shown by the mass media. Often the two are contradictory and lead to erroneous perceptions. Dr. Robert John Pope stated this, M.Pd.I. in the UMMTalks event, which was broadcast live through the official Youtube account of the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM) at the end of the last year January. Meanwhile, Robert is one of the Doctoral graduates from Australia in Islamic Religious Education (PAI) who graduated earlier this year.
As he is usually called, Robert said that he had been interested in Islamic history for a long time. He started from the stories in the Koran, especially those related to the previous books. He even had time to take some non-formal education. Both self-taught and taught by others. Finally, Robert decided to study Islam at UMM White Campus.
"Islam has an interconnected relationship with the previous books. This made me more interested, and I immediately took formal education to understand how Islam is," he added.
Although Islam emerged in the Middle East, specifically in Saudi Arabia, Robert finally chose Indonesia. One of the reasons he put forward was the relatively close distance between Australia and Indonesia, making it easier to conduct research.
While studying Islam, he felt and got new perspectives because he was in the midst of the Muslim community. It is different if you learn and are outside the community, then you will only reach the stage of assumptions made. He realized that Islam, in reality, is very diverse. This is what the western world is not aware of.
"As far as I have learned, Islam is not monolithic (one view) but has various perspectives and opinions in religion. The interaction I have with the Muslim community makes me forget the differences. Finally, I also forgot about Islam which is usually reported by the mass media, "explained Robert.
This man from Sydney, Australia, again said that he felt forced to cover his eyes while studying at UMM. They are encouraged to always be critical and dynamic in their thinking. So that new questions arise that become a source of discussion with other friends.
"I have never once been restricted from having an opinion. They are supported and get a lot of new perspectives during their studies. UMM also always supports and facilitates well while I'm studying here," he concluded. (apg/haq/wil)
