Islam, Travel, and Learning: Indonesian Muslim Students in Saudi Arabia

The proposed project mainly focuses on the study of the links between travel and learning. It sketches the history, trajectory, and development of Indonesian students in Saudi Arabia and explore their role in the shape of Muslim education, cultures, and civilization. It examines root causes and various motives of these intellectual travelers for seeking sciences (religious and secular) and pursuing knowledge in Saudi Arabia, and not in other countries, and investigates whether or not Islamic doctrines have contributed and motivated those students. Moreover, the project scrutinizes the transnational and local significance of rihla, and explore how this particular journey has heightened a universal sense of being Muslim while also inspiring the redefinition of the frontiers of sect, language, territory, and nation.