Amid his packed schedule as Minister of Religious Affairs, Prof. Nasaruddin Umar carries one longing that has never truly faded, Yogyakarta.

That longing flowed warmly as he stood before the participants of the 2026 Java Regional Economic Forum, held at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta on Thursday (4/6/2026). The economic forum, which brought together academics, business practitioners, and various stakeholders, momentarily transformed into a space of nostalgia as Prof. Nasaruddin Umar recalled his connection to this city known for its signature dish, gudeg.

"In Yogyakarta, I carry a longing all my own," he began.

And not without reason. Long before serving as Minister of Religious Affairs, he had been part of the academic life of Yogyakarta. He was once involved in the Center for Women's Studies and experienced firsthand the pulse of intellectual life that thrives in the campus environment, particularly at UIN Sunan Kalijaga.

"I truly felt the intellectual ecosystem here at UIN Yogyakarta. The intellectual warmth, the sense of kinship; it is extraordinary," he said.

For him, Yogyakarta is not merely a city of education. There is something difficult to find elsewhere: an academic atmosphere that is warm without sacrificing intellectual depth.

It was for this reason that, before the forum's attendees, he made a candid admission that was met with smiles and applause.

"The desire to retire in Yogyakarta is very much alive. Looking at Yogyakarta, I feel an incredibly strong sense of belonging," he said.

Yet for Prof. Nasaruddin Umar, Yogyakarta's distinctiveness lies not only in its social atmosphere. He sees the city as holding a unique position in the conversation of world civilizations.

To explain his perspective, he invited participants to reflect on the story of the Prophet Moses in Surah Al-Kahfi, verse 60, about the quest for knowledge until the meeting of two seas. He referenced the view of Al-Razi that the two seas are not merely geographical in meaning, but rather symbols of the meeting of two great traditions of knowledge.

On one side lies the Eastern tradition, the birthplace of the world's great religions, emphasizing spirituality and intellectual depth. On the other lies the Western tradition, which developed through rationality and the power of critical thinking.

"No prophet was born in the West, yet many great thinkers emerged from there, Plato, Socrates, Democritus. Meanwhile, the great religions were born in the East. There is, therefore, a difference in epistemological character between the two," he explained.

In Prof. Nasaruddin Umar's eyes, this image of two seas finds its tangible form in Yogyakarta.

He sees the city as a space where various scholarly traditions of the world converge. Many academics have been shaped by Western universities, yet at the same time, the Islamic scholarly tradition rooted in the Middle East also grows strong here.

He specifically pointed to UIN Sunan Kalijaga as one representation of this meeting point.

"I see UIN Sunan Kalijaga in that light. Many of its lecturers come from Western educational traditions, but many also come from Egypt. This makes for a very fascinating convergence," he said.

Beyond being a meeting point of East and West, he continued, the city also possesses a strong foundation of local culture. Javanese culture, with all its wisdom, courtesy, and life philosophy, forms a third element that enriches this civilizational dialogue.

"Yogyakarta is like a triangle. There is the East, there is the West, and then there is local wisdom as the point where they all meet," he said.

From this, he drew his conviction that Yogyakarta holds the potential to offer something new to the world, not merely as a place where different schools of thought converge, but as a place capable of generating a new synthesis: one that combines Eastern spirituality, Western rationality, and the wisdom of the Nusantara.

"We need to offer a new civilization; not Eastern, not Western. Something born from the meeting of the two," he said.

In Prof. Nasaruddin's view, this idea aligns with Islam's universal message that the Qur'an was not revealed for one nation or one particular cultural group alone.

This conversation about Yogyakarta, knowledge, and civilization served as a gateway to more substantive themes. In the session that followed, the Minister of Religious Affairs elaborated on the development of the halal ecosystem, one that addresses not only humanity's physical needs, but also the spiritual dimension that forms the foundation from which true blessing is born. (humassk)