SPs Theater Room UIN Jakarta, SPs NEWS: The Graduate School of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta held the 2776th Thesis Exam at the SPs Theater Room of UIN Jakarta, on Wednesday, July 30, 2025 with Anisa Jayanti candidates.

Anisa Jayanti is a student of the Master of Islamic Studies study program with a concentration in Islam and International Relations. Anisa wrote a thesis entitled "The Role of Civil Society in the Prevention of Religious Extremism in Indonesia (Case Study of the Convey Indonesia Program)"

This thesis presents an in-depth analysis of how Convey Indonesia, a civil society organization, plays a vital role in stemming the threat of religious extremism, especially among the younger generation.

The main purpose of this thesis is to thoroughly explore the role of Convey Indonesia in preventing religious extremism in the younger generation, as well as criticize the soft approach they implement. This approach includes innovative strategies and programs that Convey has designed. Anisa uses a comprehensive theoretical framework involving civil society theory, social movement theory, religious extremism theory, and constructivism approaches in International Relations studies, to analyze this phenomenon.

This qualitative research with a case study approach relies on data collection techniques through in-depth interviews, documentation, and literature review. This method allows Anisa to dig into information in detail and depth, ensuring the validity of her research findings.

One of the main findings of this study is that Convey Indonesia has a dual role, both in the international and national arenas, in the prevention of religious extremism. Internationally, Convey plays a role as a promoter, pioneer, and initiator of progressive ideas. At the national level, its role is no less important as a consolidator, collector, and catalyst for positive movements in society.

Convey Indonesia executes its strategy through three main pillars: research and surveys, to understand the root causes and effectiveness of interventions; advocacy and public policy engagement, to influence policies that support peace; as well as public campaigns, to increase public awareness. They also have excellent programs targeting the younger generation, such as international youth camps, millennial Indonesian youth congresses, interfaith dialogue, Convey Day, and even a game board for peace, showing their creativity in reaching audiences.

The core argument of this thesis highlights how Convey Indonesia's role in efforts to prevent extremism, particularly through educational approaches and religious moderation, contributes significantly to global peace diplomacy. This is what distinguishes Anisa's research from previous studies, offering a new perspective on the contribution of civil society in the international arena.

This research is in line with a study conducted by Havard Haugstvedt and Martin M.Sjoen (2021), which emphasized that the younger generation in religious extremism prevention programs requires a dialogue and religious community approach, rather than a hard-line approach based on military, formal legal, or financial assistance. This further strengthens the argument that the Convey soft approach is more effective.

Interestingly, this thesis also refutes the study of Miraji Hassan Mohamed (2025) who argues that civil society in the prevention of religious extremism is only part of the relationship of Western hegemonic power to Muslims, and that the program is paradoxical because it does not involve local communities. Muhammad Anisa's findings show the opposite, with strong evidence of Convey Indonesia's involvement and effectiveness at the local level.

Anisa Jayanti successfully defended her thesis under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Jamhari, MA and Dr. Masyrofah, M.Si, and was tested in front of a board of examiners consisting of Hamdani, M.Ag, Ph.D, Prof. Dr. Jamhari, MA, Dr. Masyrofah, M.Si, Dr. Idris Thaha, M.Si and Ahmad Abrori, M.Si, Ph.D.

After paying attention to the thesis writing, the comments of the examiner team and the candidate's answers, the examiner team determined that Anisa Jayanti graduated with the predicate of Very Satisfactory. Anisa Jayanti is the 2776th master's degree in Islamic Studies, in the master's program of the Graduate School of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. (JA)