Vision
To be an institution that revitalizes of Islamic thought to achieve the humanity order in social justice through Islamic praxis as the foundation of Indonesianness based on the spirit of intellectualism and social aspiration of Ahmad Syafii Maarif.
Mission
- To increase critical awareness about the compatibility between Islam and democracy, human rights, and pluralism to develop civility, peace, understanding, and constructive cooperation for humanity.
- To promote the change in public policy by strengthening and expanding the participation of civil society to create social justice.
Values
Egalitarian, Non-discriminative, Tolerant, Inclusive
Strategic Agenda
- Developing the capacity of Islamic civil group network in disseminating the idea of Islam, Indonesianness, and humanity.
- Developing Islamic thought studies and cultural strategies on the complexities of humanity problems and contemporary issues.
- Strengthening the civic political roles of Islamic civil groups to encourage changes and/or improvement of public policy to focus on the interests of the society.
- Developing cooperation with governmental institutions to create just and non-discriminative policies.
The founding statute of MAARIF Institute for Culture and Humanity (2003) states the Institute’s commitment as a cultural movement in the contexts of Islam, Indonesianness, and humanity. The three areas are the most fundamental and important aspects of the intellectual and activist journey of Prof. Dr. Ahmad Syafii Maarif, the former Chairperson of the Central Board of Muhammadiyah, the former President of World Conference on Religion for Peace (WCRP), and 2008 Ramon Magsaysay Awarded.
The existence of MAARIF Institute cannot be separated from the network of Pembaruan Pemikiran Islam (PPI-Islamic Thought Reform) movement in contemporary Indonesia. The reform movement is inevitable and demanded by history. The complexities of modern humanity problems with their contemporary issues, such as democracy, human rights, pluralism, gender, terrorism, interreligious dialog, civilization and other issues require a new interpretation of Islamic teaching and people’s collective work without overlooking differences.
Admittedly, MAARIF Institute’s programs and activities cannot be separated from Muhammadiyah’s sociological needs, albeit no organizational relationship with the latter and without lessening the commitment to expand the Institute’s relationships and scope of actions. Many consider Muhammadiyah as the representation of modern-moderate movements in Indonesia that has actively promoted Islamic thoughts, Islamic preaching, and social actions. As it also promotes Islamic reform, Muhammadiyah has become the main interest of MAARIF Institute as a part of the efforts in enlightening and empowering moderate elements in Indonesia.