Millions of Young Muslims

Embrace Message of Tolerance

Music With a Message of Peace

Takes Awards in the World’s Most Populous Muslim Nation,

and Seeks Out a Global Audience

 

Jakarta, Indonesia (December 22, 2006) – At first blush, Indonesia is among the least likely of countries to grant its most prestigious pop music award to an album that uses language from the Qur’an and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad to condemn religious extremism and terror.  As the world’s most populous Muslim country and site of numerous terrorist attacks, Indonesia is widely seen as a critical theater in the struggle against Islamic extremism. Yet, at the 2006 AMI (Anugerah Musik Indonesia) awards, Indonesia’s equivalent to the U.S. Grammy Awards, that is exactly what happened.

 At the annual ceremony in December, Indonesian rock band Dewa took home the award for best rock album and best rock song, for its controversial and best-selling album, Republik Cinta (“Republic of Love”).  The album’s enormously popular lead single, Laskar Cinta (“Warriors of Love”),  is a musical salvo aimed at Laskar Jihad (“Warriors of Jihad”), an Islamist terror group responsible for the murder of thousands of Indonesians and for creating a massive refugee crisis in that country’s eastern provinces. Presenting Muslim youth with a stark choice, Dewa’s Laskar Cinta challenges Muslim youth to choose the army of love over the army of jihad.

Millions of fans enlisted in Dewa’s army of love and peace by embracing the song, which soared to the number one spot on Indonesian charts, while its music video rose to the top spot on on MTV Asia’s hit program, Ampuh.  Laskar Cinta received an AMI nomination for best rock song, and was narrowly edged out by another song from Dewa's album Republic of Love, “Sedang Ingin Bercinta.”

With eight best-selling albums and these latest awards in hand, Dewa frontman Ahmad Dhani is now preparing to bring this message of peace to the world stage, in conjunction with the U.S. and Indonesia-based LibForAll (“Liberty for All”) Foundation, on whose board of directors he has served since 2004.  LibForAll is dedicated to promoting the culture of liberty and tolerance worldwide, and to creating and propagating models of a prosperous, moderate, and tolerant Islam. 

Ahmad Dhani, Once and Dhani's wife Maia, leader of the group Ratu, onstage (right) at the 10th annual AMI music awards on December 20, 2006 in Jakarta.  Maia won the top creative production award for her best-selling single, Teman Tapi Mesra ("Intimate Friends").

 

In addition to winning honors for top rock album and top rock song, Dewa’s lead vocalist Once (left, with LibForAll CEO Holland Taylor) took home the AMI award for best male vocalist and best song (“Dealova”).

“The quick rise of Dewa’s latest album to the top of Indonesian pop charts and its recognition as the best rock album of 2006 reflects the power of celebrity to reach youth, who are most susceptible to extremist messages,” explained C. Holland Taylor, the chairman and CEO of LibForAll, who co-founded the organization with former Indonesian president and top Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid. “LibForAll will build on these successes and continue to work closely with Ahmad Dhani and Dewa to reach impressionable Muslim youth worldwide.”

LibForAll is currently building a global team of Muslim and non-Muslim musical celebrities to promote the traditionally pluralistic and tolerant values of Islam through a worldwide “Warriors of Love” project.  “Warriors of Love will be recorded in the languages of every significant cultural, linguistic and commercial music market in the Islamic world, including Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, Hindi/Urdu, French and English,” explained Dhani.

“My hope is that in the future, young Muslims will grow up to be more tolerant than the present generation and break the cycle of hatred that plagues the world today,” said Dhani. “That is why I joined forces with LibForAll Foundation, to take Dewa’s music and message to a global audience.”

This musical campaign has been endorsed by key Muslim theologians, who are joining with pop culture celebrities and other like-minded leaders in the fields of religion, education, entertainment, government, business and media to encourage people of good will of every faith and nation to unite as “warriors of love,” and to reject all forms of religious hatred and violence. To learn more about Ahmad Dhani and the LibForAll Foundation “Warriors of Love” Program, visit http://www.libforall.org/popculture-republic-of-love.html

 

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Founded by C. Holland Taylor, LibForAll Foundation is dedicated to creating and propagating models of a prosperous, moderate, and tolerant Islam. Through its vast network of professionals and advisors in the U.S. and abroad, LibForAll supports countries, regions, and groups that share its vision for a progressive Islam that is both peaceful and tolerant.

 

LibForAll has deep roots in the Islamic world. Its co-founder and senior advisor is His Excellency Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, Indonesia’s first democratically elected president and long-time head of Nahdlatul Ulama, the world’s largest Muslim organization, with 40 million members. Chairman and CEO C. Holland Taylor is a renowned expert on Islam and the process of Islamization in Southeast Asia, having lived, studied, and worked in the Middle East and Indonesia over a period of over four decades. For more information about LibForAll visit www.libforall.org.

 

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