My Journey

My journey began at the intersection of two worlds that are often treated as separate: the world of Islamic learning and the world of modern social inquiry. Raised within the tradition of pesantren education while later trained in sociology and political and religious studies, I gradually came to see that the questions facing Muslim societies today cannot be answered by inherited knowledge alone, nor by modern theory alone. They require a serious dialogue between the two.

I studied Sociology at the University of Indonesia, where I developed a strong foundation in social theory, research methodology, and the analysis of politics, culture, and public life. During this period, I became involved in academic research, public discussion, and critical writing. My undergraduate work culminated in a thesis on digital Islam, science, and post secular society, where I examined the relationship between faith and reason through the lens of Jürgen Habermas.

After that, I continued my intellectual journey through research, teaching, and writing. As a Research Assistant in the Laboratory of Sociology at the University of Indonesia, I worked on projects related to digital society, youth citizenship, and local policy evaluation. Later, as Managing Editor of Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi, I became closely involved in the academic publication process, helping maintain the quality and consistency of sociological scholarship. These experiences trained me not only to think critically, but also to contribute to knowledge production in a disciplined and collaborative way.

At the same time, I remained deeply rooted in Islamic education. For several years, I taught Arabic grammar, logic, and Islamic theology in a pesantren, guiding students through classical texts and helping them build analytical discipline within the Islamic tradition. Alongside this, I began writing for NU Online on theology, Sufism, fiqh, prophetic history, and Islamic thought, seeking to make serious Islamic ideas accessible to broader audiences. For me, teaching and writing are not side activities. They are central to my commitment to building a more thoughtful, rooted, and intellectually confident Muslim public.

My academic path then brought me to SOAS University of London, where I pursued an MA in Religion, Politics, and Society. At SOAS, I deepened my engagement with questions of Islam, pluralism, modernity, and political thought. My work has focused especially on neo-traditionalist Islam and the construction of pluralist discourse, including research on Nahdlatul Ulama’s discourse of religious pluralism. This phase of my journey strengthened my belief that Islamic intellectual traditions still hold rich resources for addressing the ethical and political challenges of the contemporary world.

Today, my interests continue to expand across disciplines. In addition to my work in Islamic studies and socio-political research, I have also been developing skills in data analysis, AI, and machine learning. I see this not as a departure from my earlier path, but as an extension of it. I want to contribute to a future in which Muslim intellectual life is not only textually grounded and morally serious, but also technologically literate, socially relevant, and globally engaged.

Across all these stages, one thread has remained constant: a desire to bridge worlds that are too often disconnected, classical and contemporary, religious and academic, local and global, ethical tradition and technological change. My work is driven by the conviction that meaningful renewal begins when we learn to think across those boundaries with rigor, humility, and purpose.