# Islamic Scholars from Secular & Western Universities?
While neighbouring countries celebrate local & overseas scholars who attained doctorates in Islamic universities such as Jordan, Egypt & Saudi Arabia, and take knowledge from them.
Why then are we taking knowledge & promoting local & overseas scholars from Western universities such as those in Cambridge & Oxford, and secular universities such as those in staunchly secular Tunisia?
And who can we credit for this idea of sending students for Islamic studies to secular & Western universities and to eventually promote & propagate a brand of Islam with liberal & orientalist leanings?
“Religion as a knowledge does not belong to religious institutions, but rather to SECULAR higher learning colleges. And if we speak about qualified higher learning institutions, WESTERN universities are the most competitive ones.
Thus, if you want to study Islam, particularly Indonesian Islam, it should not be at UIN or a Middle Eastern institution, but rather at such universities as in the Netherlands, the United States, or Australia.”
~ Luthfi Assyaukanie (co-founder of Liberal Islam Network, Indonesia), “Where we go to study Indonesian Islam?”, Jakarta Post, 25 June 2010
Source: Islamic Sg
