Firanda Andirja

Firanda Andirja (full name Firanda Andirja Abidin) is an Indonesian scholar and preacher, born in Surabaya on 28 October 1979. He studied at the Islamic University of Madinah through a doctorate in aqidah, delivered the Indonesian-language religious studies at the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah from 2012 to 2018, and is a regular teacher on Radio Rodja and Rodja TV, with dozens of published books. ¹

Firanda was born at Dr Soetomo Hospital, Surabaya; his father Abidin was a Bugis from Sengkang and his mother Suenda a Surabayan. A week after his birth the family moved to Sorong, in what is now Southwest Papua, where he spent his childhood and schooling. After high school he entered the chemical engineering programme at Gadjah Mada University, leaving after about a year to study religion at the Jamilurrahman pesantren in Bantul for about a year and a half. In 2000 he passed the Islamic University of Madinah's admission daurah in Lombok, and in August 2001 he left for Madinah. After a year of Arabic he completed a bachelor's degree in the Faculty of Hadith with cum laude honours, then a master's in aqidah — his thesis edited Ibn Taymiyya's answers to detailed objections against the divine attributes — and in September 2016 a doctorate in aqidah, with summa cum laude honours, on a dissertation refuting the scriptural arguments of advocates of religious pluralism. Among his teachers was Abd al-Razzaq al-Badr al-Abbad, who supervised his master's thesis. ¹

From 2012 to 2018 the Saudi government entrusted Firanda with the Indonesian-language studies at the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah, addressed to Indonesian Hajj and Umrah pilgrims and residents. In Indonesia he is a regular resource person on Radio Rodja and other dakwah channels, has taught at the Imam Shafi'i College of Islamic Studies (STDI) in Jember, and writes columns answering polemics. In 2017 he became chairman of the Fatwa Council of Perhimpunan Al-Irsyad; he resigned and left the organisation on 12 December 2018. ¹

His more than forty books, mostly published by Nashirus Sunnah and his own office, include his master's thesis and doctoral dissertation in Arabic, Syarah Kitab Tauhid, Syarah Al-Aqidah Al-Wasithiyah, Tafsir At-Tasysir volumes on several surahs and juz', Sirah Nabawiyah in six volumes, and works on family life and worship such as Bekal Puasa, Bekal Zakat and Bekal Haji. ¹

His official YouTube channel, @firandaandirjaofficial, had about 853,000 subscribers when read for the museum's harvest in June 2026 — a dated platform figure, not a museum-verified fact. ¹

• Indonesian Wikipedia, "Firanda Andirja", as read on 4 November 2026. ¹
• Pengetahuan, "Biografi Ustadz Firanda Andirja", as read on 4 November 2026. ²