On the eve of their European trip, a group of prominent security experts from the U.S. published a provocative article, and study, which heavily criticized those who wish to enforce medieval Islamic jurisprudence in the 21st century, while praising the late President Wahid and the Nahdlatul Ulama as exemplars of a spiritual and "libertarian" understanding of Islam.

"The other side of the divide is dominated by "Islamists," who are Muslim supremacists. Like erstwhile proponents of communism and Nazism, these supremacists—some terrorists, others employing stealthier means—seek to impose a global theocratic and authoritarian regime, called a caliphate. On this side of the divide, Shariah is a compulsory system that Muslims are obliged to wage jihad to install and to which the rest of the world is required to submit."

~ R. James Woolsey, Andrew C. McCarthy and Harry E. Soyster in The Washington Times, September 14, 2010

Sweden's largest newspaper,
with a circulation of 1,425,000 daily readers,
circa 15% of the Swedish population

A LibForAll Media Center film crew accompanied Kyai Haji Mustofa Bisri to Europe, where they recorded his visit, conducted interviews and shot scenes for two new episodes in LibForAll's Ocean of Revelations film series: "The Rule of Law" and "The International Institute of Qur'anic Studies."

The Ocean of Revelations curriculum will address the topic of shari'a in two distinct episodes. "The Path" will examine the roots of Islamic spirituality in Qur'anic use of the term shari'a, whose etymological meaning is "the path to water" (i.e., God); while "The Rule of Law" will demonstrate how human beings' limited understanding of the Qur'an and Sunnah (the example of the Prophet Muhammad's life) have been falsely divinized, by conflating Islamic jurisprudence (the product of said human understanding) with Divine Will itself.

KH. Mustofa Bisri (center) filming for the episode on shari'a at Sweden's royal palace, accompanied (left to right) by Kyai Haji Adib Chattani; producer Emilie Taylor; cinematographer Yoyok Santoso; LibForAll CEO Holland Taylor; and LibForAll Director of Programs, Kyai Haji Hodri Ariev.

The delegation's visit to Sweden was jointly hosted by the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies (CATS) at Sweden's National Defense College, and the nation's Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Here, Sweden's Ambassador for Democracy, Maria Leissner (center), discusses the need for theological arguments to bolster democracy promotion in the Muslim world, and the possibility of including such a topic in the Ocean of Revelations curriculum. To her right (in blue shirt and jacket), CATS Director Dr. Lars Nicander.

The delegation also met with the Foreign Ministry's Ambassador for Human Rights, Mr. Hans Dahlgren; Ambassador for Counter-terrorism, Mr. Tomas Rosander; Director, Security Policy Department, Mr. Peter Ericson; and Director, Asian Department, Mr. Klas Molin.

"Furthermore he underscored that many Muslims today feel or perceive injustice. In an analogy, he likened the world to a family where Muslims often feel like a powerless little brother. But he underlined that even if a big brother acted unjustly it did not provide justification for a little brother to throw stones and carry out destruction. 'Two wrongs do not make a right', said Bisri."

~ Swedish National Defence College website

Watch the seminar here.

Svenska Dagbladet, est. 1884

"Islam is not the monolith many want to see"

STOCKHOLM, 1 October 2010 – "Sweden is an Islamic country. Thus says Kyai Haji Mustofa Bisri, the second highest leader of the world's largest Muslim organization – the Nahdlatul Ulama, with 40 million adherents in Indonesia. He believes that Sweden's view on human rights and freedoms are fully in line with Islam.

"'Extremists have misunderstood Islam,' he says. Religion does not legitimize violence…. Islamic jurisprudence, [often referred to as] Shari’a, is the product of fallible human understanding rather than the word of God…. Shari’a must be constantly reinterpreted to fit modern society. Furthermore: Palestinian violence is just as wrong as Israeli.

"These views would probably cause the gentle Indonesian leader to meet with a grim fate if they were presented during a normal Friday prayer service in Iran, Saudi Arabia or the Gaza Strip, instead of during a lecture at the National Defence College in Stockholm on Tuesday. Nor are his views fully consistent with those expressed by the leadership of the largest Swedish Islamic umbrella organizations. But what he says is noteworthy: religion is not the monolithic phenomenon that everyone from [Muslim] Salafists to Sweden’s [right wing populist] Democrat [party] proclaim it to be. When you listen to Mustofa Bisri, you see before you a Muslim who not only accepts the existence of the secular state, but who also expresses a belief system compatible to democracy, similar to that found in our churches....

"The Nahdlatul Ulama—which, in its current form, has the support of about one-fifth of the Muslim population [of Indonesia]—gives hope that there is a way for democratic reform.

"Large parts of the Islamic world suffer from a reform movement in the opposite direction, as evidenced by a wide range of phenomena, from the global Muslim Brotherhood to local murder threats against [the Swedish artist, Lars] Vilks. But 40 million supporters should not be despised. That is more people than live in Saudi Arabia."

In Copenhagen, the NU/LibForAll delegation met with State Secretary for Foreign Policy Michael Zilmer-Johns (right), who asked Mustofa Bisri to "quickly return" to Denmark, and deepen his efforts to promote mutual understanding and tolerance between Islam and the West.

KH. Mustofa Bisri with Indonesia's ambassador to the European Union, Arif Havas Oegroseno, discussing Indonesia's potential to exercise soft power, in exporting its traditions of religious pluralism and tolerance worldwide.

Throughout the visit, LibForAll CEO Holland Taylor stressed the importance of European governments engaging with genuine spiritual ulama (religious scholars) who live the highest values of Islam, rather than with Islamist extremists and/or opportunists.

In the Netherlands, KH. Mustofa Bisri delivered a speech at Leiden University (established in 1575), encouraging scholars in the field of Islam to descend from their ivory towers and help the world overcome "the ideologies of hatred" that threaten all humanity.

The Dutch governing coalition collapsed in the Spring of 2010 over the issue of troops in Afghanistan, and the nation was politically paralyzed for nearly four months after a June 9th election, unable to form a new government due to the rise of Geert Wilders, and conflict among political parties concerning how to address the issues of Islam and Muslim immigrants to the Netherlands.

Al-Ahram journalist Mohammad Harbi interviewing C. Holland Taylor for a documentary film on Dr. Nasr Hamid Abu-Zayd, the renowned Qur'anic scholar and Academic Director of LibForAll's International Institute of Qur'anic Studies, who passed away in July of 2010.

At the headquarters of media giant Deutsche Welle (the German equivalent of BBC), along the banks of the Rhine River in Bonn, Germany, Kyai Haji Mustofa Bisri and C. Holland Taylor recorded three interviews for broadcast on the international network.

Also in Germany, Der Spiegel magazine published an article on imam education headed by LibForAll associate Dr. Rauf Ceylan of Osnabrück University, and KH. Mustofa Bisri's address to a gathering of German experts on Islam, which was held in Osnabrück to discuss the role Indonesian Islam can play in German education. A 25-minute trailer featuring excerpts from the first 7 episodes of Ocean of Revelations was also screened, followed by an experts' discussion as to its potential use in educational circles.

"They intervene in cultural conflicts, marital disputes and dealings with the German authorities: Muslim spiritual leaders deal with the everyday and the soul. Osnabrück University has become the first in Germany to offer seminars for imams. Many hope it will prove a boon for integration….

"The signal sent out by Osnabrück could hardly be more important. The German state is creating partners in its dialogue with Islam: imams trained in state institutions.