Lukman Hakim Saifuddin
Lukman Hakim Saifuddin is an Indonesian politician and Muslim scholar who was the Minister of Religious Affairs in the Second United Indonesia Cabinet of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Working Cabinet of President Joko Widodo.
Saifuddin is considered more moderate than his predecessor, Suryadharma Ali. As former party whip of the United Development Party in the People's Representative Council, Saifuddin pulled the PPP closer to the political center. Also unlike Ali, Saifuddin has indicated a willingness as Religious Affairs Minister to extend recognition to the Baháʼí Faith, a minority group in the country. Saifuddin also participated with Indonesian Buddhists in a joint prayer in Medan in November 2016. Conversely, he also urged Muslims in Indonesia to pray for the Rohingya minority in Myanmar in reaction to the 2016 Rohingya persecution in Myanmar, and stated that the Government of Indonesia was monitoring the situation.
Saifuddin also cautioned against follow-up protests to the November 2016 Jakarta protests against the Christian governor of Jakarta accused of blasphemy, stating that formal charges had been brought to a court of law and that there was no justification for further protests.
Early life, education, and early career
Early life
Lukman Hakim Saifuddin was born in Jakarta, on 25 November 1962. His father, Saifuddin Zuhri, was a politician, journalist, educator and Muslim cleric, who was Minister of Religious Affairs under president Sukarno, from 1962 until 1967 while his mother was a woman named Solichah.Education
As a child, Lukman Hakim studied religion from his mother. He went to SDN Jakarta for elementary school, and SMPN XI Jakarta for junior high school. After this, he entered the Pondok Modern Darussalam Gontor in Ponorogo, East Java, graduating in 1983, at the age of 21.Following his graduation from Gontor, Lukman Hakim studied at the Faculty of Da'wah at As-Syafiiyah Islamic University in Jakarta. During university, Saifuddin excelled in the fields of study, training and research. It was also during this time that he became active in the management of the Nadhlatul Ulama, a traditionalist Sunni Islamist movement. He graduated with a bachelor's in 1990.