The Faculty of Sharia and Law, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, has further strengthened its academic standing with the addition of a new doctorate in Islamic Political Law. Khoirul Anam earned his doctoral degree in Islamic Political Law after defending his dissertation titled “The Relationship between Political Islam and the Pancasila State in the Post-Reform Era, 1999–2019,” in the Open Doctoral Promotion Examination of the Doctoral Program in Islamic Law, held Wednesday (8/26/2026).

The examination took place in the Technoclass Room of the Faculty of Sharia and Law, UIN Sunan Kalijaga. Khoirul Anam passed with a perfect Cumulative Academic Achievement Index (IPKA) of 4.00, becoming the 35th doctoral graduate of the Faculty of Sharia and Law, UIN Sunan Kalijaga.

The dissertation examines the shifting relationship between Political Islam and the Pancasila State following the 1998 Reformasi. Anam observed that the relatively accommodative relationship seen at the end of the New Order period underwent change after Reformasi, as democratic space opened up and contestation over ideas concerning the direction of national and state life intensified.

According to Anam's research, this shift was not solely a matter of ideological contest, but was also shaped by more complex socio-political dynamics, including newly opened political opportunities, dissatisfaction with the state, collective frustration stemming from a multidimensional crisis, demoralization, experiences of injustice, belief in the feasibility of implementing an Islamic political ideology, and changes in national education policy.

Amid these conditions, Political Islam groups constructed a framing narrative that the Pancasila State had not yet fully realized its founding purposes. This narrative then became the basis for mobilization in pursuing political and social agendas oriented toward implementing Islamic values or systems.

This qualitative, descriptive-analytical study employed an interdisciplinary approach drawing on social movement theory, social interaction theory, and Maqāṣid al-Sharī'ah (the objectives of Islamic law). Anam mapped the relationship between Political Islam and the Pancasila State across a range of forms, from cultural to structural movements, and from revolutionary to reformist-moderate orientations.

At the cultural level, this relationship manifested through the establishment of civil society organizations, the ideologization of Islam and the idea of a caliphate, demonstrations, da'wah activities, symposiums, and the Islamization of education. At the structural level, the struggle took shape through the founding of Islamic political parties, efforts to revive the Jakarta Charter, the legislation and implementation of sharia-influenced regional regulations (perda), and the use of identity politics.

Anam also found that this pattern of relations shifted across three distinct periods. Between 1999 and 2004, the relationship was marked by competition along structural-reformist lines and conflict along cultural-revolutionary lines. The 2004–2014 period showed a pattern of accommodation through structural-reformist channels alongside contravention through revolutionary movements. Meanwhile, from 2014 to 2019, the relationship again showed contravention through reformist-structural movements and conflict through cultural-revolutionary movements.

Drawing on these findings, Anam proposes a critical reciprocal model as the ideal framework for the relationship between Political Islam and the Pancasila State. This model positions both entities on equal footing, with a relationship built on mutual respect, tolerance, and critical engagement, while remaining within legal bounds.

This concept stands as one of the dissertation's key contributions. In this study's view, the relationship between Political Islam and the Pancasila State need not be framed through a binary logic of confrontation. Instead, it can be directed toward a reciprocal relationship that allows for criticism, oversight, and mutual strengthening of national life.

Principal advisor Prof. Dr. H. Riyanta, M.Hum., noted that Anam's academic journey reflected commitment and diligence in defending his scholarly argument. He considered the work an important academic contribution, particularly through its formulation of the reciprocal concept as a model for the relationship between Political Islam and the Pancasila State.

According to Prof. Riyanta, this concept demonstrates that the relationship between the two can be built reciprocally and mutually reinforcing, while still maintaining a critical and constructive mechanism of oversight.

Prof. Riyanta further noted that earning the doctoral title carries new responsibilities for Anam. An academic degree, he said, is not merely a personal achievement, but places the knowledge produced through the dissertation within a broader responsibility, to continue developing the study of Islamic political law and to contribute academically to understanding the relationship between religion, the state, democracy, and national life in Indonesia.

His achievement adds further academic strength to the Faculty of Sharia and Law in advancing the study of sharia and law that is not only academically rigorous, but also relevant to the dynamics of politics and national life.

The academic process leading to Khoirul Anam's doctoral degree culminated in an open examination involving a number of academics as advisors and examiners. The session was chaired by Prof. Ali Sodiqin, with Dr. Saifuddin as committee secretary. Prof. Riyanta, served as Principal Advisor I and examiner, while Prof. Ahmad Zaini Anshori, served as Principal Advisor II and examiner.

The remaining examiners were UIN Sunan Kalijaga Professor Prof. Agus Moh. Najib, Dr. M. Rizal Qosim, and Dr. Hj. Siti Fatimah, along with UGM Professor Prof. Diagal Wisesomarsomo, as external examiner. (humassk)