Kyai Haji Achmad Mustofa
Bisri is often called “Sang Kyai Pembelajar” – the Great
Religious Scholar and Teacher – by members of the world’s largest
Islamic organization, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). Widely revered as a
religious scholar, poet, novelist, painter and Muslim intellectual,
“Gus Mus” (Brother MUStofa) has strongly influenced the NU’s social
and political development over the past thirty years.
Descended from a long line of charismatic
religious leaders, Gus Mus heads the prestigious
Raudlatuth Tholibin Islamic boarding school in Rembang, Central
Java, where he was born in 1944. He received a thorough education
in Islamic studies from his father and other leading Muslim
scholars, including the renowned Kyai Haji Ali Maksum at al-Munawwir
Krapyak Islamic boarding school in Yogyakarta, Indonesia – all of
whom encouraged artistic development and critical thought among
their young students. Mustofa Bisri’s role in combining
spirituality with artistic expression is widely admired in
Indonesia, where he is regarded as a cultural icon. Often called the
“President of Poets,” he is celebrated for his courage in
defending
artistic and religious freedom in the face of radical onslaughts.
A graduate of al-Azhar University in Cairo, Gus
Mus is fluent in Arabic as well as his native Javanese and Indonesian. Together with his friend and longtime Nahdlatul Ulama
Chairman Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid, he has exerted a formative
influence on the development of Indonesian civil society and
democracy. Personally devoid of political ambition, Gus Mus has
repeatedly refused the office of NU Chairman – most recently in
November of 2004 at the Nahdlatul Ulama Congress held in Boyolali,
Central Java. He remains, however, a key figure and elder statesman
within the organization – one of a number of ‘spiritual kyais’ whose
moral authority helps guide the NU.
Mustofa Bisri’s personal philosophy can be seen
in the
“Mata Air” (“Living Spring”) Community that he heads, whose
membership is open to all who share its essential values: “Worship
God; respect elders; treat those who are younger with loving
kindness; open your heart to all humanity.” He is closely
involved in LibForAll's
Grassroots Pluralist Network project.
Amin Abdullah
is currently serving
his second term as the Rector of Sunan Kalijaga Islamic State
University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. This was the first and
"mother" of all the Islamic State Universities/Institutes (UIN/IAIN/STAIN),
and is now one of the leading Islamic universities in Indonesia,
with about 15,000 students.
Dr. Abdullah is well known as an Islamic philosopher
who distinguishes normative Islam from historical Islam and
advocates a new path in Islamic philosophy of knowledge, one that is
open to dialogue and integration with many different sources of
knowledge. Internationally recognized for his role in
promoting a modern, pluralistic and tolerant understanding of Islam,
Dr. Abdullah helped lead the world's second-largest Muslim
organization, the Muhammadiyah, from 2000-2005, when he served as
Vice Chairman of its governing board.
Born in the regency of Pati, Central Java in
1953, Dr. Abdullah received his Baccalaureate degree from Pesantren
Gontor Ponorogo; his Ph.D. in Islamic Philosophy from the Middle
East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey; and has conducted
post-doctoral study at McGill University in Toronto, Canada.
He is the author of numerous books, including Religious Education
in a Multi-Cultural and Multi-Religious Era; Between al-Ghazali
and Kant: Islamic Ethical Philosophy; The Dynamism of
Cultural Islam; and Islamic Studies in Higher Education.
He is also the author of dozens of articles, and frequently speaks
at international seminars in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
According to Dr. Abdullah,
Indonesia's network of State Islamic Institutes and Universities
have long been at the forefront of issues such as interfaith
dialogue and improving overall relations between Islam and the
West (“We must explain to the Saudis that they misunderstand the
West”). Dr. Abdullah is currently engaged in the process of
modernizing his institution's curriculum, and expanding its
relationships with other leading universities worldwide, while
maintaining its links with the past. Sunan Kalijaga University
itself is named after the
Muslim saint who ensured the triumph of a mystical and tolerant
Islam in 16th century Java, and thereby helped to preserve freedom
of conscience for all Javanese.
Azyumardi Azra is one of Southeast
Asia’s most prominent liberal Muslim intellectuals. Born in West
Sumatra, Indonesia in 1955, Dr. Azra recently completed two terms
(1998-2006) as Rector (President) at the prestigious
Syarif Hidayatullah
State Islamic University (UIN) in Jakarta. Under his leadership, UIN-Jakarta
has played a vital role in Indonesia’s transition from authoritarian
rule to democracy – promoting a moderate and tolerant understanding
of Islam, at peace with itself and the modern world. In this
regard, the leadership, faculty and staff at UIN-Jakarta serve as a
vital bulwark against the inroads of religious extremism inspired
from abroad.
Professor Azra graduated from the Faculty of
Tarbiyah (Islamic Education) at the
Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic Institute
(now UIN) in 1982. He was appointed Lecturer there in 1985 and in
the following year was selected for a Fulbright Scholarship to
pursue advanced studies at Columbia University, New York City. He
graduated with an MA from the Department of Middle Eastern Languages
and Cultures in 1988. Winning a Columbia President Fellowship, he
moved to the Department of History, Columbia University where he
undertook further studies: MA (1989), MPhil (1990) and a Ph.D. in
Philosophy (1992).
He was Vice Director of the Centre for the
Study of Islam and Society at IAIN/UIN Jakarta before his
appointment as Vice Rector for Academic Affairs. Professor Azra has
been a visiting fellow of Southeast Asian Studies at Oxford
University’s Centre for Islamic Studies; a Visiting Professor at the
University of Philippines and University Malaya; a Distinguished
International Visiting Professor at the Department of Middle Eastern
Studies, New York University; member of the Board of Trustees of
International Islamic University Islamabad (2004-9);
editor-in-chief, Studia Islamika, an Indonesian journal for
Islamic Studies (1993-present); member of the editorial board of the
journals Ushuluddin (University Malaya); and Quranic
Studies (University of London). He has presented numerous papers
at international conferences and has lectured at many universities,
including Harvard, Columbia, Australian National University, Kyoto,
Leiden and others.
Dr. Azra has published 18 books on the subject
of Islam and is a regular contributor to Indonesian newspapers and
journals. He is also a noted commentator on Indonesian Islam and
politics for the Indonesian and international media. His latest
book is entitled The Origins of Islamic Reformism in Southeast
Asia (University of Hawaii Press, 2004; Leiden: KITLV Press,
2004; Allen & Unwin, 2004).
"Southeast Asia has an extraordinarily
large and well-developed structure of Islamic education that can be
a resource of critical importance in the ongoing war of ideas within
Islam. These institutions can be expected to keep the Muslim
communities in Southeast Asia rooted in their moderate and tolerant
values, despite the apparent onslaught of extremist ideology from
the Middle East. At a global level, they could serve as the building
blocs of a moderate or liberal Muslim international movement to
counter the influence of radical Salafi networks." –
Angel Rabasa, writing in
Current Trends in Islamist Ideology, published by the Hudson
Institute's Center on Islam, Democracy and the Future of the Muslim
World
Franz Magnis-Suseno, SJ was born in the
German province of Silesia (now Poland) in 1936, to a family of
devout Roman Catholics. Having survived the horrors of World War II
and forcible expulsion from Silesia, the young Franz Magnis escaped
to West Germany. He joined the Jesuit Order at the age of nineteen,
and received his baccalaureate degree from the College of Philosophy
in Pullach, Bavaria in 1960. The following year he moved to
Yogyakarta, in the cultural heartland of Java, where he was ordained
as a Jesuit priest in 1967. A few years later, the young priest
surrendered his German nationality and became an Indonesian citizen,
in order to dedicate the rest of his life to serving the people of
his adopted homeland.
Father Magnis-Suseno is a widely beloved and
immensely popular figure in Indonesia, who appears frequently in
interfaith dialogues and on radio, television and in the print
media, promoting harmony and respect between Indonesia’s many
faiths. Periodically threatened by religious extremists, he
responds with a gentleness, love and courage born from his deep
faith and religious convictions.
A Doctor of Philosophy who graduated summa cum
laude from Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany (which
he attended from 1971-73), Father Magnis-Suseno is currently the
Director of Postgraduate Studies at Driyakarya College of Philosophy
in Jakarta, Indonesia, which he helped to found and then headed for
many years. Driyakarya College – which is also a place for training
Roman Catholic priests – has among its students quite a number of
Muslims, including many members of Kyai Haji
Abdurrahman Wahid’s Nahdlatul Ulama organization, who come to learn
European philosophy in order to sharpen their critical thinking and the tenets of their fellow citizens’ Christian beliefs.
Father Magnis-Suseno has served as a visiting
professor at the University of Indonesia; Parahyangan University in
Bandung, Indonesia; the College of Philosophy and Ludwig-Maximillians
University in Munich; and the University of Innsbruck. He is the
author of over 30 books, including “Javanese Ethics and World View,”
“In Search of a Rational Purpose for Life” and “Becoming a Witness
for Christ in the Midst of a Complex Society.”
Dr. Magnis-Suseno holds the Distinguished
Service Cross (“Das Grosse Verdienstkreuz) from the Federal Republic
of Germany and an honorary doctorate in theology from the University
of Lucerne, Switzerland.
Abdul Munir Mulkhan
was born in the town of
Jember in the Indonesian province of East Java in 1946. He received
his BA from the Department of Religious Interpretation at Raden
Intan State Islamic Institute in Lampung, Sumatra, and his MA and
Ph.D. in the field of Social and Political Science from the
prestigious Gajah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia –
graduating cum laude on each occasion.
For many years Dr. Munir has been
an active member of the governing board of the Muhammadiyah, the
world’s second largest Muslim organization with an estimated 30
million members. He has served as Vice-Secretary of the organization
as a whole (2000-2005); as Secretary of the Office for Organization
and Cadres; Secretary of the Council of Religious Interpretation;
and as a member of the Council for Higher Education Research and
Development. Since 1996 Dr. Munir has been a member of the editorial
board of Suara Muhammadiyah (the Muhammadiyah’s official
publication), and since 2002 has served as head of the Central
Muhammadiyah Board’s “Good Governance” Council, with a primary task
of eliminating corruption. In addition, Dr. Munir previously served
as Vice-Secretary of the Yogyakarta branch of the Indonesian Council
of Religious Scholars.
Dr. Munir is a member of the
faculty of Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University in Yogyakarta,
Indonesia. He has conducted post-doctoral research at McGill
University in Montreal, Canada, and served as Visiting Research
Fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s Institute of Defense
and Strategic Studies in Singapore. He currently serves as a
LibForAll Foundation Fellow.
Dr. Munir is the author of over 40
books and hundreds of articles published in various Indonesian
magazines and newspapers.
Nasr Hamid Abu-Zayd
is a pioneer in the field of Qur'anic hermeneutics –
examining the Qur'an from a linguistic and contextual perspective to
understand its nature, contents and origin. He combines this with a
study of modern Islamic thought, by critically approaching classical
and contemporary Islamic discourse in the fields of
theology, philosophy, law, politics
and humanism. The aim of his research is to suggest a theory of
hermeneutics that might enable Muslims to build a bridge between
their own tradition and the modern world of freedom, equality, human
rights, democracy and globalization.
Born in Tanta,
Egypt in 1943, Dr. Abu Zayd holds a BA, MA and Ph.D. with highest
honors in the field of Arabic and Islamic Studies from Cairo
University. Dr. Abu Zayd is widely regarded as a reformist hero, for
his courage in opposing Islamist attempts to stifle freedom of
speech in his native Egypt. The object of death threats issued by
Ayman al-Zawahiri (Osama bin Laden’s lieutenant) and others, Dr. Abu
Zayd relocated to Europe with his wife in 1995, and now occupies the
Ibn Rushd Chair of Humanism and Islam at the University of
Humanistics in Utrecht, the Netherlands. He was the 2005 recipient
of the
Ibn Rushd Prize, awarded by the Ibn Rushd Fund for Freedom of
Thought.
Dr. Abu Zayd is the author of 14 books and
scores of articles in his native Arabic. His writings have been
translated into Dutch, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian,
Persian and Turkish.
Sukardi Rinakit received his B.A. from the
Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia,
Jakarta; his M.A. in Southeast Asian Studies from the National
University of Singapore; and his Ph.D. from the Department of
Political Science, National University of Singapore. He is the
co-founder and Executive Director of the Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicate (SSS),
Jakarta, a non-profit organization that promotes democracy and
supports the transformation of civil society. His research focuses
on the areas of the military, terrorism, security policy, political
culture, the process of decentralization, the relationships between
religion, politics and civil society, and the protection of human
rights in Indonesia.
Dr. Sukardi is the former Head of Department, Research and
Development Institute, All Indonesian Labor Unions and a former
ghost writer for the Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of
Security and Defense. He has published hundreds of articles in leading
journals and national newspapers and is extensively quoted in
such publications. He has also published numerous books, including a
recent one in English, entitled Indonesian Military after the New Order.
Dr. Sukardi is a close confidante of many Indonesian political
leaders, and is privy to the internal dynamics of that nation's
military.
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