Book dissemination: The Dutch Language and Islamic Studies in contemporary Indonesia

Dutch language or Dutch Nederlands becomes an important part of the Islamic studies field, especially in Indonesia. It was mainly because of the interaction between Netherland and Indonesia during the colonial period in which the Dutch had become the language in many sources both books and government archives. Christian Snouck Hurgronje, for example, was an orientalist who studied social and cultural aspects of Indonesian as well as an agent of colonial government. His works were recognized as the primary sources for other field studies such as history, sociology, and anthropology in the colonial era.

Bi-Weekly Forum #24 Faculty of Adab and Cultural Sciences UIN Sunan Kalijaga held a virtual seminar about the importance of the Dutch language in studying Islam in Indonesia. The speaker, Dr. Sujadi, M.A., explains that the motive in publishing the book is to assert the significance of the Dutch for academia mainly in Islamic studies. He also notes that Islam that is studied today is a footnote of a previous study from Dutch researchers.

This virtual seminar was attended by lecturers and students both from the Faculty of Adab and Cultural Sciences and from outside the Faculty. The discussion, which was held on Friday, December 31, 2021, was moderated by a lecturer in the Faculty of Adab and Cultural Studies, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Abdul Aziz, M.Hum.