Fajar Riza Ul Haq is MAARIF Institute`s executive director (late 2009 – present), a non-governmental organization founded by Professor Ahmad Syafii Maarif, the former chairman of the central board of Muhammadiyah, one of the largest Muslim organizations in Indonesia. He obtained a master degree (2006) from Center for Religious and Cross Cultural Studies, Gadjah Mada University of Yogyakarta, and took Chevening fellowship (2009) on "What Makes Democracy Work?" at University of Birmingham, United Kingdom.
In 2005, he was honored with selection for the Australia Indonesia Institute’s Young Religious Leaders Exchange Program. Two years later, he also was selected as the participant of the 17th New Generation Seminar organized by the East West Center, Hawai`i, and Facilitation of Dialogue Process and Mediation Efforts conducted by Folke Bernadotte Academy, Sweden.
Before charging as executive director, he directed Muhammadiyah’s education system reform by incorporating human rights values into religious curricula since he was responsible for program director at the institute from 2007-2009. Previously in Surakarta (2002-2005), Fajar was involved in promoting multicultural education among Muslim educators and organizations. He is author of two books —Promoting Pluralism and Taking Side of the Oppressed: The New Political Vision of Muhammadiyah, and Purification and Cultural Reproduction in South Java: Muhammadiyah and Local Arts—, edited three books on Islamic education based human rights, and is a regular contributor to major newspapers, journals and magazines on social, cultural, education, and religious issues.