Recently, U.S. Freedom House’s Centre for Religious Freedom released a report analyzing the syllabus and textbook of Islamic studies courses used in Saudi schools. One of the important findings is that ideology of hatred and enmity toward Christians, Jews and Muslims who do not subscribe to the Wahhabi doctrine remains in this area of the public school system.
Source: Islamlib.com, 20/11/2006
29/11/09 07:28 AMThe organization’s stated goal is to encourage dialogue among Islamic groups with a liberal understanding of Islam and to create a journalistic platform for analysis, background reports and interviews. “We also conduct workshops, public discussions and radio talk shows to discuss the current challenges for Muslim society following the end of the Suharto era,” explains Luthfi Assyaukanie, coordinator of Jaringan Islam Liberal. The Islamic scholar and lecturer at the Paramadina University in Jakarta knows exactly what he is talking about when he emphasizes the significance of his organization’s educational and publicity work: “We are now living in a democratic society. However, if we do not enrich it with our views, the radicals will try to fill this gap. We see ourselves as a reply to the rising Islamism in Indonesia.”
Source: Qantara, May 2008
23/11/09 01:41 AMMuslim scholar Luthfi Assyaukanie, who studied Islamic Law at Jordan University and took his doctoral degree from Melbourne University, said the Ahmadiyah case reflected a weakening effort to rejuvenate understanding about Islam and enlighten Muslim communities. “The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and the Indonesian Islamic Propagation Council (DDII) are controlled by those who defy the (Islamic) rejuvenation movement. They also dominate state agencies with certain religious authorities,” he told The Jakarta Post. The MUI declared Ahmadiyah “deviant” and demanded the government outlaw its activities.
Source: Jakarta Post, May 18, 2008
22/11/09 01:37 AM
Wadud deserves our support. Her case is ultimately not about gender and prayer, but about religious tolerance. In order to appreciate the fundamental values of liberty and democracy, Muslims need to learn to accept that specific visions and interpretations of religion are open to change – that religious traditions are not static.
Source: Islamlib.com, 07/04/2005
18/11/09 07:00 AM
Terror and violence may be declining in Indonesia, but there is another development that Indonesians, particularly the non-Muslims and the secular Muslims, are following with concern. This is the emergence of religious bylaws. Coming on the back of new regional regulations known as “Perda” (peraturan daerah), such religious bylaws have now been adopted by no less than 35 Indonesian regions. The Perda themselves are a response to the regional autonomy law that was enacted in 1999. This regional autonomy law stated that local governments at the district level are entitled to have their own implementation regulations. The central government will no longer interfere in the local administration. The law that introduced Perda itself was part of the reform agenda put forward in 1998 following the fall of the Suharto regime.
Source: The Straits Times, 2 April 2007
14/11/09 01:49 PM
Copyright © 2006 Luthfi Assyaukanie, otherwise noted all rights reserved.
