“Only if Muslims and adherents of other faiths are willing to reinterpret their respective scriptures—and thereby renew their religious doctrines—will we witness a new era, dominated by a more humane and truly spiritual religiosity. Given the current crisis facing humanity, leaders of the world’s various faiths must work together to ensure full respect for the rights and dignity of all human beings, regardless of their religion or lack thereof. This is the sacred duty of those who adhere to all religious faiths, and the true jihad that the world still awaits.”

"Nothing can restrict the Absolute Truth.  Sufism—whose purpose is to bring Muslims to the third stage of knowledge, i.e., the truth and reality of certainty (haqq al-yaqin)—emphasizes the value of freedom and diversity, both as reflections of God’s will and purpose, and to prevent the inadvertent or deliberate conflation of human understanding (which is inherently limited and subject to error) with the Divine.  Faith (iman) and surrender to God (islam) on a purely intellectual level are not enough.  Rather, a Muslim should continuously strive (mujahadah) to experience the actual Presence of God (ihsan). For without experiencing God’s Presence, a Muslim’s religious practice remains on a purely theoretical level; islam has not yet become an experiential reality.

"Sanctions against freedom of religious inquiry and expression act to halt the developmental process of religious understanding dead in its tracks—conflating the sanctioning authority’s current, limited grasp of the truth with ultimate Truth itself, and thereby transforming religion from a path to the Divine into a “divinized” goal, whose features and confines are generally dictated by those with an all-too-human agenda of earthly power and control."

View the IIQS home page

Watch the conclusion of
IIQS: Birth of a Movement (film)

Two of the many popular tributes to President Wahid that emerged spontaneously in the months and years following his death: Gus Dur:
Champion of the People
and Gitu Saja: Koq Repot
(That's Just How Things Are: No Problem).

 

"LibForAll is linking moderate Muslim leaders 'in a network of lighthouses within the Islamic world that will promote tolerance and freedom of thought and worship.'”

 

"Prior to his death in December 2009, our friend Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid.... set in motion a pair of interrelated endeavors to help realize Indonesia’s strategic potential as an engine of spiritual progress for humanity. The first of these [is] the International Institute of Quranic Studies...

"The second endeavor consists of a systematic effort to help educate and mobilize Western governments, civil society and public opinion at large, to address the complex array of threats posed by Islamist ideology, terrorism and a rising tide of Islamophobia in the West. This strategic endeavor, jointly undertaken by the Nadhlatul Ulama and LibForAll Foundation, seeks to develop a broad center-left to center-right coalition in North America and Europe that will unite the 'humanitarian left' and 'national security-oriented right' in forging the societal consensus required to marginalize and discredit both Islamist extremism and its mirror phenomenon in the West...."

“LibForAll Foundation... aims to present the moderate and tolerant face of Islam, and explain the importance of [Muslims] returning to the essence of Islamic teachings which, until now, have been poorly understood by many groups [both in Islam and the West].”

"A firewall against terror in Islam's name"

 

Launched a “pathbreaking” (Wall Street Journal) extremist exposé, The Illusion of an Islamic State, which dramatically influenced Indonesia’s 2009 national elections, derailing a Muslim Brotherhood-linked political party’s ambitions. Now available in English, the book lays out a proven method for discrediting Islamist extremism.

"Remarkable... a roaring success"  ~ Washington Post

“It is not hard to appreciate that anti-extremism efforts are critical to winning the war against Islamic terror. It is a daunting task, but Mustofa Bisri and Taylor remind us that a single book with a powerful message had a huge political impact in the largest Muslim-majority democracy in the world. If it can work in Indonesia, why not in the rest of the world?”

"A book that makes history"  ~ New Europe

“The Illusion of an Islamic State really scourged Wahhabism…. The [Muslim Brotherhood's] Justice and Prosperity Party also fell victim and was gravely wounded [by the book’s publication].”

 

“The Illusion of an Islamic State… has given rise to enormous polemics, which is precisely what [its authors] intended. All kinds of people are now following the lead of Gus Dur and Syafii Maarif, [criticizing Wahhabism and transnational Islamist movements]. But what is clear is that this book was created by LibForAll…. They are attacking “transnational Islam,” using deep-rooted local power structures.”

The unique effectiveness of LibForAll’s "Musical Jihad" program has been validated by renowned security experts and international organizations, including the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and has been featured in numerous blue-chip international media outlets including CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, Time, the Washington Post, the Sydney Morning Herald and Serviam magazine.

Hosted an historic religious summit in Bali, whose participants rejected the evils of Holocaust denial and affirmed religious tolerance as “a blessing for all creation.” Called “one of the top news stories of the year” by Arabian Business, global media coverage included wire stories on AP, Reuters and AFP, with features in over 2,000 print and broadcast outlets worldwide.

“[W]e present Medals of Valor to individuals whose courage and bravery have made a difference and touched lives in the darkest of places.”

Developed a unique counter-extremism film series (Ocean of Revelations: Understanding Islam as a Blessing for All Creation) in close cooperation with top Muslim leaders from Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Filmed in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Germany and the Netherlands, Episode 7 (right) presents an historical and theological rationale for the separation of state and religion.

 

LibForAll's world-class achievements and leadership role have been widely praised by international policy experts, government leaders and blue-chip media outlets, who regard LibForAll as the pioneer in developing and operationalizing an effective counter-radicalization strategy worldwide.

“[O]ne of the rare success stories of an initiative in which moderate and liberal Muslims—too often the silent and disorganized majority—have organized effectively to counter radical Islamist groups by promoting democracy and tolerance.”

“LibForAll itself is a model of what a competent public diplomacy effort in the Muslim world should look like.”

~ Wall Street Journal

 

View highlights of LibForAll's
global media coverage

A year-long study by the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies at Sweden's National Defense College identified LibForAll as "exceptional," citing its track record of "selecting methods with maximum impact and that reach the largest possible audience."

“[T]he world’s biggest success story with respect to preventing Muslim radicalization and terrorism.”

"Listening to Mr Bisri and reading some chapters of the book [The Illusion of an Islamic State], I was convinced… that Indonesia’s Muslim scholars have the courage and determination not only to denounce such violence but also to counter it with religious arguments.... Indonesian scholars deserve credit and support and more publicity for embarking on the difficult task. Perhaps one day, Pakistan’s religious scholars will also work as fervently to reclaim Islam from those peddling a distorted version of religion."

LibForAll joins fellow American Islamic Leadership Coalition members in proposing key revisions to U.S. National Strategy on Counterterrorism

“C. Holland Taylor doesn’t look like a man radical Muslims should fear.... He possesses no arsenal of weapons, holds no government post, and operates no intelligence service. Yet he runs the world’s most potent and innovative anti-extremist network and may hold a key to defusing the ticking bomb of Islamic terrorism.”

"May their wisdom flourish."  ~ Marty Peretz, The New Republic, praising a LibForAll op-ed in the Wall Street Journal

 

“[T]hose whose hearts are filled with sincerity and goodwill and who strongly embrace efforts to achieve peace, freedom and tolerance, are, in a cultural sense, members of LibForAll Foundation’s global family. To accomplish its mission, LibForAll employs a spiritual approach, to raise individual and social consciousness and thereby transform individuals and society for the better. This approach is predicated upon the fact that the innate struggle between the spiritual (higher) and animalistic (base) natures of humanity exerts a major impact upon the external world….

“Base instincts are a powerful force which always harbor a destructive potential, rendering individuals discontented and incapable of experiencing peace. Islamic scholars often compare this lust (for power, wealth, pleasure, etc.) to a wild beast. Whoever succeeds in taming his carnal nature achieves inner peace, and can employ his vital energies to achieve far-reaching, lofty and noble goals. On the other hand, whoever is still dominated by egotism and lust is in a state of constant, restless anxiety/desire, and is a danger to himself and others….

“People who are convinced that they know more than anyone else about Islam, and yet are full of hatred towards any of God’s creatures who do not travel the same path as they; and those who claim to be in possession of the absolute truth, and for that reason entitled to act as God’s vice-regents on earth (caliphs) and to dictate how everyone else must live—clearly, their words and behavior will not lead us into the presence of God. Their dream of an Islamic state is merely an illusion, for the true islamic state is not to be found in the structure of any government, but rather, in hearts which are open to God and all His creatures.”