The growing number of formalist Muslim elite in Indonesia who advocates violence and religious intolerance practices has left Indonesian policy on religious education in question. Islamic universities play a decisive role in educating Indonesian Muslim elites with many graduates who are Muslim thinkers of national and international standing. This paper aims to present an elaborative discussion on how Islamic universities address the issue of religious formalism.  Through a qualitative interview and observation at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, it is revealed that integration of knowledge and revitalizing the content of civics education subjects are two key strategies taken by the university to address the issue. A study to trace the original purpose of the liberal arts is also conducted to add another perspective on Islamic education practitioner’s viewpoint towards the proposal to further Indonesian Higher Education through Liberal Arts offered by the Indonesian Liberal Studies Initiative task force. An analysis of both the history of liberal arts education and interviews shows problem faced by Islamic higher education in responding to the task force’s proposal; politicization of language of the liberal arts and partial implementation of the integration of knowledge concept in the body of Islamic university in Indonesia.

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