Wijayanto (born December 27, 1968), colloquially known as Ustadz Wijayanto, is an

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or ''Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the main ...

preacher,

da'i A da'i ( ar, داعي, dāʿī, inviter, caller, ) is generally someone who engages in Dawah, the act of inviting people to Islam. See also * Dawah * Da'i al-Mutlaq, "the absolute (unrestricted) missionary" (Arabic: الداعي المطلق) ...

and

ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

hailed from

Surakarta Surakarta ( jv, ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ), known colloquially as Solo ( jv, ꦱꦭ; ), is a city in Central Java, Indonesia. The 44 km2 (16.2 sq mi) city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and ...

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta ...

. He often appears in religious studies and Islam related programs on national television. An alumnus of

International Islamic University, Islamabad , motto_lang = Arabic , mottoeng = "All those endowed with knowledge have the All-Knowing above them" , established = , closed = , type = Public , affiliation = ...

, he is also noted as a lecturer of the department of management in

Gadjah Mada University Gadjah Mada University ( jv, ꦈꦤꦶꦥ꦳ꦼꦂꦱꦶꦠꦱ꧀ꦓꦗꦃꦩꦢ; id, Universitas Gadjah Mada, abbreviated as UGM) is a public research university located in Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Officially founded on ...

and as the Principal Supervisor of

Pesantren ''Pesantren'', or ''pondok pesantren'', are Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia. They consist of pondok, mosque, santri, teaching of classical Islamic texts and Kyai.Zamakhsyari Dhofie''The Pesantren Tradition: A Study of the Role of the Kya ...

Bina Insan Anak Sholeh,

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

Early life

Wijayanto attended from elementary to high school in Surakarta. During the elementary school years, he also studied at the Tafseer Diniyah Assembly, while during the junior high school years he participated in the Islamic boarding school, Al Islam. During his time in Surakarta, he began recognizing his talent in preaching. Subsequently, he continued his studies at the Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University and graduated as a scholar of ''tarbiyah'' (Islamic education) in 1992. In the same year, he also completed a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology at

. He then went on to study at International Islamic University in Islamabad majoring in the Master of Sociology and graduated in 1997.

Career

Wijayanto is known as a prominent

in Indonesia, characterized by comical and entertaining preaching style. He is famous for his lectures with witty humor and critical comedy reflecting the reality and this is anticipated by his audiences. However, there are critics as well against his way of preaching and pop lectures on TV. Some call him "ustad artist" due to him utilizing his title as

ustad Ustād or ostād (abbreviated as Ust., Ut. or Ud.; from Persian ) is an honorific title used in West Asia, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is used in various languages such as Persian, , Azerbaijani, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi ...

to speak and look charming. In addition to lectures and televangelism, Wijayanto also authors written works. One of his releases is titled ''Jodohku, Maunya Kamu'' (lit: I want you as my love of my life, until the end). The book is aimed at addressing the family affairs and social issues, utilizing his knowledge and degree in sociology, and aimed at combining the science of sociology and Islamic knowledge as a preacher in order to contribute to solving the problem.

References

{{reflist 1968 births 20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam Indonesian Muslims Living people Indonesian Muslim missionaries Sunni clerics