World-class Achievements

Watch "A Muslim Solution to Terror" ~ a video overview of LibForAll's "Musical Jihad" in South East Asia that shows how one courageous group is encouraging millions of fans in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia to embrace religious tolerance and freedom.  (Flash video for broadband users, 10.1 Mb.)

LibForAll hosts an historic religious summit in Bali, whose participants reject the evils of Holocaust denial and affirm religious tolerance as a "blessing for all creation."  Held in response to the December '06 Holocaust denial conference in Tehran, the summit showcased Indonesia's ability to play a unique role in promoting tolerance between religions, and discrediting the ideology of hatred.  Global media coverage included wire stories on AP, AFP, and Reuters, and features in over 2,000 print and broadcast outlets worldwide, from the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Arabian Business magazine, to Canadian Jewish News, the Singapore Straits Times, Australian,  the Guardian, Le Monde and Die Welt.

2007 Highlights

At the December 2006 AMI (Anugerah Musik Indonesia) awards, Indonesia’s equivalent to the U.S. Grammy Awards,  LibForAll activist Ahmad Dhani and his rock band Dewa took home the awards for best rock album and best rock song, for their controversial and best-selling album, Republik Cinta (“Republic of Love”).  The album’s lead single, Laskar Cinta (“Warriors of Love”), 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.”

Dewa’s lead vocalist Once (left, with LibForAll CEO Holland Taylor) took home additional AMI awards for best male vocalist and best song.

 

 

The new year arrived on the heels of a landmark achievement by LibForAll Advisor and Senior Fellow Dr. Abdul Munir Mulkhan (former Vice Secretary of the Muhammadiyah, the world’s second-largest Muslim organization, with 30 million members).  After a year-long campaign, Dr. Munir succeeded in mobilizing his organization to officially reject extremism and distance itself from Islamist political parties, which have penetrated the Muhammadiyah through the so-called “Tarbiyah,” or Islamic Education, movement.  The heavily-funded group thus rejected, the PKS, is the Indonesian political equivalent of Hamas, and is affiliated with the radical Muslim Brotherhood. The formal decree issued by the Muhammadiyah’s Central Board is pictured to the right, and the achievement itself was profiled in a subsequent Wall Street Journal article entitled "The Exorcist".

Surat_Keputusan_1

 

 

January of 2007 witnessed the launch of Menjadi Indonesia: 13 Abad Eksistensi Islam di Bumi Nusantara (Becoming Indonesia: 13 Centuries of Islam in the East Indies), which positions Indonesia as a model for a pluralistic and tolerant understanding of Islam, at peace with itself and the modern world.  The 902-page book was edited by LibForAll's Director of Publications, Ahmad Gaus (orange shirt), and Dr. Komaruddin Hidayat, the rector of Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University in Jakarta (center, talking with LibForAll CEO Holland Taylor), while LibForAll advisor Dr. Sukardi Rinakit (far left) looks on.
 

 

Among those contributing chapters to the book were LibForAll advisors Azyumardi Azra ("Historiography of Indonesian Islam"), Abdul Munir Mulkhan ("Mystical Islam, Pure Islam and Jurisprudential Islam") and Amin Abdullah ("Orientalism and Contemporary Islamic Studies").  LibForAll co-founder Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid also attended the launch, which was heavily covered by Indonesia's mass media.

Photo shows Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin (left) with LibForAll advisor Dr. Azyumardi Azra at the launch.

 

 

In March, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE’s) Action against Terrorism Unit (ATU) began actively promoting LibForAll Foundation as its chosen partner for the implementation of counter-radicalization programs in Europe.

OSCE/ATU support has included financing the expansion of LibForAll’s operations to Europe, and facilitating briefings by LibForAll executives to top counter-terrorism officials and policy makers from OSCE participating states, including the 27 members of the EU, the Council of the European Union in Brussels, and the European Commission.

 

 

 In April, Wall Street Journal foreign columnist and editorial board member Bret Stephens visited Indonesia for ten days in the company of LibForAll CEO Holland Taylor, profiling key LibForAll associates K.H. Abdurrahman Wahid ("The Last King of Java") and Dr. Abdul Munir Mulkhan ("The Exorcist"), and their work to preserve Indonesia's traditions of religious tolerance and pluralism.  Other articles in the series describe President Wahid and LibForAll Advisor Mustofa Bisri's defense of artistic freedom ("Hips Don't Lie"), and dangers posed by "The Arab Invasion."

In "The Last King of Java," Mr. Stephens called LibForAll co-founder Wahid "the single most influential religious leader in the Muslim world" and "easily the most important ally the West has in the ideological struggle against Islamic radicalism."

 

 

 

 

Bret Stephens (center left) at an historic gathering of Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama leaders who are committed to promoting a peaceful and tolerant understanding of Islam as the "middle path," eschewing the ideology of religious hatred and violence.

Left to right: LibForAll associate Dr. Ratno Lukito; LibForAll advisor and Senior Fellow Dr. Abdul Munir Mulkhan; Director of LibForAll's Nur al-Hikmah ("Light of Wisdom") Society, Hodri Ariev; Bret Stephens; LibForAll advisor and renowned NU leader K.H. Mustofa Bisri ("Gus Mus"); LibForAll associate Ridlo (standing behind Gus Mus); LibForAll CEO Holland Taylor; and regional NU chairman K.H. Achmad Said Asrori ("Gus Said").

   

 

 

 On June 12th, LibForAll 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.”   Held in response to the December 2006 Holocaust denial conference in Tehran, the summit showcased Indonesia's ability to play a unique role in promoting tolerance between religions, and discrediting the ideology of hatred. 

The event was organized in just four months from concept to execution, by LibForAll Foundation and its partner, the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Shown on the right is President Wahid's daughter Yenny ~ an accomplished civic and political leader in her own right ~ addressing the conference.

 

 

 

The Bali Holocaust Conference opened with Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid issuing a firm condemnation of Holocaust denial on the pages of the Wall Street Journal.  Co-authored with former Chief Rabbi of Israel and child Holocaust survivor Israel Meir Lau, the article called upon the world's religious leaders to "not only refute the claims of terrorists and their ideological enablers, but also defend the rights of others to worship differently," and "face up frankly to the evils of Holocaust denial."

In the words of President Wahid, “When Ahmadinejad lies about the Holocaust he is wrong, and I say so publicly.”

   

Global media coverage of the event included wire stories on AP, AFP and Reuters, and articles in over 2,000 newspapers worldwide, from the Wall Street Journal and Canadian Jewish News to the Singapore Straits Times, Australian, Le Monde and Die Welt, which wrote “The world's most populous Muslim nation has, for an entire day, become a showplace for a hitherto unique religious conference:  the gathering on the holiday island of Bali concerned itself entirely with religious tolerance and recognizing Nazi persecution of Jews as an historical reality.  Indonesia thereby consciously seeks to distance itself from fundamentalist and radical spirits."

   

On June 28th, LibForAll incorporated its European branch (Stichting LibForAll) in the historic Dutch university town of Leiden, which enjoys a long relationship with Indonesia and is the home of LibForAll advisor Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd.  The expansion of LibForAll's operations in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East are being conducted largely under the umbrella of Stichting LibForAll.

Over the past year, LibForAll’s Global Counter-extremism network has expanded to include associates in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, France, Spain, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Palestine and Iraq.

 

 

On July 1st, LibForAll received a grant from a major foundation to execute the first phase of its Grassroots Pluralist Network TV/Video project.  This project entails creating a 30-lesson video curriculum that will provide a thorough, pluralistic and tolerant answer to the question, “What is Islam?,”  in the words of world-renowned Muslim theologians, grassroots religious leaders and pop celebrities. 

Using commercial production standards, the video curriculum is being designed for broadcast on national television in Indonesia; dissemination to 14,000 Islamic boarding schools with 2.5 million students; and to serve as a template for the execution of similar projects in South Asia (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh) and the Arab world.

Renowned Muslim cleric and LibForAll advisor Kyai Haji Mustofa Bisri (right, facing LibForAll CEO Holland Taylor and LibForAll VP Dr. Ravi Krishnamurthy) is in charge of the project, assisted by Kyai Haji Yusuf Chudlori (far right).

 

 

On July 10th, Wall Street Journal foreign columnist Bret Stephens profiled LibForAll CEO Holland Taylor and the Foundation itself, stating that “LibForAll is a model of what a competent public diplomacy effort in the Muslim world should look like.”

The article, entitled Public Diplomacy for Dummies, continued:  “In its brief life, LibForAll has helped turn back an attempted Islamist takeover of the country's second-largest Muslim social organization (with 30 million members), translated anti-Wahhabist books into Indonesian, sponsored a recent multidenominational conference to denounce Holocaust-denial, brought Mr. Dhani to Colorado to speak to U.S. military brass, and launched a well-researched "extremist exposé" in order, Mr. Taylor says, ‘to get Indonesian society to consciously acknowledge that there is an infiltration occurring of radical ideology, financed by Arab petrodollars, that is intent on destroying Indonesian Islam.’”

 

 

The U.S. Congress has continued to recognize LibForAll’s accomplishments in its legislative reports.

The Senate Subcommittee Report (SR 110-128) accompanying HR 2764 (FY08 State/Foreign Ops Appropriations Bill) states: “Religious Tolerance.—The Committee recognizes the need to counter Islamic extremism, and is aware of the successes of LibforAll’s tolerance and moderation programs in Indonesia. The Committee supports expansion of these types of programs globally, particularly in the Middle East, and recommends the Department of State and USAID consider funding proposals from LibforAll for this purpose.” 

The House report accompanying HR 2764 (HR 110-197) contained similar language, encouraging “USAID to consider supporting organizations such as Dosti and the LibforAll Foundation.”

 

 

On September 8th, LibForAll Foundation and The Wahid Institute launched the Indonesian translation of Two Faces of Islam: Saudi Fundamentalism and its Role in Terrorism, by Stephen Sulaiman Schwartz, on the occasion of the Wahid Institute’s third anniversary.

Dua Wajah Islam – which contains an introduction by LibForAll co-founders Wahid and Taylor – provides a compelling account of Wahhabi/Salafi efforts to radicalize Muslim populations, and destroy traditional Islamic cultures, worldwide.

The book serves as a wake-up call to Muslims about the need to mobilize and counter the aggressive, well-financed activities of Wahhabi/Salafi radicals, and in so doing paves the way for LibForAll’s Extremist Exposé, whose results will be published in early 2008.

 

 

On September 10, 2007, LibForAll became the first non-governmental organization to address COTER, the European Union's working group on counter-terrorism, attended by top CT officials from all 27 EU member states.  The EU's Portuguese Presidency had invited LibForAll CEO Holland Taylor to describe "the work you have done to help to eliminate the underlying causes of terrorism and examples of projects which have worked successfully in Indonesia.  We would also be interested to hear your thoughts on working in Europe and North Africa."

 

 

 On September 19th, the American Enterprise Institute hosted a panel discussion entitled, “Indonesia: A Model for Tolerant Islam?” at which Michael Ledeen of AEI and Sadanand Dhume of  the Asia Society joined LibForAll CEO Holland Taylor in discussing whether LibForAll’s strategy is transferable to the Middle East.

 

 

The question was implicitly answered by the attendance of al Jazeera’s North American bureau chief, along with a cameraman and reporter, who filmed the entire LibForAll event at AEI.  The following week, Mr. Taylor participated in a one-hour program on al Jazeera worldwide – broadcast live in Arabic, during prime time in the Middle East – which examined the same questions raised at the AEI event. 

Al-Jazeera’s treatment of Indonesian Islam and democracy, and of LibForAll’s strategy and activities, was distinctly favorable – reflecting Indonesia’s ability to impact other parts of the Islamic world, especially with the help of modern information age technologies and the mass media.

 

 

In November, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations recognized LibForAll’s contributions to promoting tolerance, and invited LibForAll to join the AoC Foundation Working group.

The following month, Corporate Leader magazine profiled LibForAll co-founder C. Holland Taylor in a major article entitled “An ex-CEO’s Plan for World Peace”

 

 

In 2007, LibForAll laid the foundations for a 5-year project to produce a comprehensive commentary on the Qur’an using modern methodologies of scholarship, which will construct a case for the rejection of Qur’anic literalism and the definitive discarding of extremist teachings. Led by some of the world’s top Qur’anic scholars, this project will establish schools of modern Qur’anic interpretation in the South East Asian, South Asian and Arab regions – helping Muslims to build a bridge between their own traditions and the modern world of freedom, equality, human rights, democracy and globalization.

The project is headed by renowned Egyptian reformer Dr. Nasr Hamid Abu-Zayd. Dr Abu-Zayd is currently a LibForAll Advisor and turned down a prestigious teaching position at Colombia University to sign on with LibForAll Foundation in executing this vital project (photo, right). 

 

 

In November, Indonesian extremists attempted to silence Dr. Abu-Zayd, whose global reputation and influence pose a vital threat to their ideology of religious hatred and supremacy.  LibForAll co-founder Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid spoke strongly in support of Dr. Abu-Zayd, at a public forum and press conference in Jakarta on November 26th (left) – “turning the table” on those who seek to narrow the bounds of discussion in the world’s most populous Muslim nation and democracy.

President Wahid’s endorsement of  Dr. Abu-Zayd led to an outpouring of support from Indonesian civil society, with leaders from both the Nahdlatul Ulama (40 million members) and the Muhammadiyah (30 million members) condemning extremist attempts to silence Dr Abu-Zayd.

   

From December 2 – 8, a “Peace Delegation” of Indonesian religious leaders visited the Holy Land under the joint aegis of LibForAll Foundation and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. 

The international significance of the visit was emphasized by an hour-long meeting with Israeli President and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Shimon Peres (top right), and with prominent Palestinian leaders including Mohammad Dajani (bottom right), who heads a civil society movement dedicated to transforming Palestinian mosques, schools and media outlets to promote a message of tolerance and peace, rather than ethnic or religious hatred and violence.

In the words of renowned Muslim cleric and LibForAll advisor Kyai Haji A. Mustofa Bisri, “It is not possible to extinguish fire with fire.  It takes water.”  We cannot extinguish hatred with further enmity and hatred.  Rather, it requires the courage and humility to approach "the other" in a spirit of Divine love and compassion. 

With its traditions of religious pluralism and tolerance, Indonesia and its civil society are ideally positioned to serve as mediators, and help remove the poison of religious hatred that has long afflicted the Middle East.

 

 

   

 

Throughout the year, LibForAll executives and key advisors participated in a number of high-level briefings and conferences – advising both governments and international bodies how to counter the ideology of religious extremism that underlies and animates terrorism.

Venues included the Global Security Forum 2007 hosted by the government of Singapore; the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Public Private Partnership in Countering Radicalization conference in Vienna (center left); the Homeland Defense/Homeland Security Symposium, sponsored annually by NORAD/NORTHCOM (top left); and a key European Commission conference in Brussels on Preventing Radicalization through Education, where LibForAll VP Dr. Ravi Krishnamurthy (bottom left) showcased successful uses of both traditional (classroom) and non-traditional (pop culture, TV/video, Internet) education methods that play a crucial role in the war of ideas.

LibForAll’s pioneering role in the field of counter-extremism was further acknowledged at a Dutch government conference entitled Countering Radicalization: Perspectives and Strategies from Around the World, at which a Swedish expert from the prestigious Center for Asymmetric Threats Studies in Stockholm, Dr. Magnus Ranstorp,  advised counter-radicalization specialists to consider “innovative programs such as those implemented by LibForAll Foundation.”

Other counter-radicalization experts have hailed LibForAll as “the lodestar in this field,” and “perhaps the only NGO operationalizing a coherent and effective counter-extremism strategy” worldwide, amid endless discussion of the vital need for such efforts.

 

2006 Achievements and Expansion Plans

Award Presentation

"The risks are great for vocal religious moderates like the ones affiliated with LibForAll. Last year, after Dewa released [the album Warriors of Love], Dhani was labeled an apostate. Fearing for his wife, Maya, and their three children, Dhani moved them into a hotel. Only when Abdurrahman Wahid held a press conference supporting the rock star did Dhani feel safe enough to move them home again." ~ Mary Kissel of the Wall Street Journal, describing a widely televised 2005 LibForAll Award ceremony (photo, left), which set the stage for many of LibForAll's accomplishments in 2006. 

   
 

The year 2006 opened with President Wahid's internationally-acclaimed essay in the Wall Street Journal, Right vs. Wrong IslamIn what the Journal described as a "must read" and "seminal" article, President Wahid called for "people of goodwill of every faith and nation" to join in defeating the ideology of hatred that underlies and animates terrorism, and to replace it with a pluralistic and tolerant understanding of Islam, at peace with itself and the modern world.

 

   

 

President Wahid's article was translated and reprinted in hundreds of newspapers and websites around the world. Praised by the Hudson Institute's Center on Islam, Democracy and the Muslim World as "worthy of serious study and reflection" and "a far-ranging and detailed account of what [Wahid] views as 'the global struggle for the soul of Islam,'" the article has begun to help shape government policy and inspired numerous strategy papers published in North America, Europe and Asia, including the September 2006 edition of the U.S. Army War College's professional journal, Parameters.

 

 

   

Muslim rock star and LibForAll board member Ahmad Dhani released his eighth album, Republic of Love, to blanket publicity in January of 2006.  The album's lead single, a "musical fatwa" against religious hatred and terrorism, became the #1 song on Indonesian radio, while its music video soared to #1 on MTV Asia in March of 2006.

In December of 2006, the album won two AMI (Anugerah Musik Indonesia) awards Indonesia's equivalent to the Grammy for best rock album and best rock song.  Dewa's lead singer, Once, won additional AMI awards for best male vocalist and best song.

   

In April, LibForAll co-founder and CEO C. Holland Taylor helped to organize "an historic peace gathering" in San Francisco, which brought together the Dalai Lama and Muslim leaders over 30 nations.  This project was part of LibForAll's Global Network/ Mobilizing LIGHT (Leaders Who Inspire Global Healing and Tolerance) Program.
   

In May, President Wahid who is one of the world's leading Muslim theologians issued a stirring defense of religious freedom.  The following month, President Wahid and LibForAll CEO Holland Taylor (photo, right) held a press conference via satellite with reporters at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in an event co-sponsored by the Center for Security Policy.

   

Noted philanthropist F. Borden Hanes, Jr. (left, with North Carolina Senator Richard Burr and LibForAll CEO Holland Taylor) joined LibForAll Foundation's board of directors in May, adding a powerful dimension to its U.S. fundraising efforts.
   

Dr. Ravi Krishnamurthy also joined the foundation in May. As its Worldwide Director of Programs, Dr. Krishnamurthy is responsible for managing LibForAll's rapid expansion and program development.  His activities this year have included advising the U.S. Congress on promoting religious freedom in the Muslim world (photo right), and his highly-praised contribution to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) and the Council of Europe's efforts to reduce incitement to terrorism.

   

Inspired by LibForAll's strategy, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations recommended the establishment of tolerance programs that "utilize Indonesian leaders to promote moderation and tolerance in Islamic communities in Indonesia and other Islamic countries.... Of this amount, the Committee recommends $3,700,000 for the LibForAll Foundation for programs targeted toward Islamic youth in other countries in the Middle East and elsewhere." 

This appropriation has been delayed by a year due to  the FY07 federal budget being financed through a continuing resolution rather than individual spending bills but LibForAll continues to enjoy strong bipartisan support from key members of Congress and State Department officials, who recognize the value of LibForAll's programs to U.S. and international peace and security.

   

In August, LibForAll Foundation's  board of advisors met to review the foundation's strategy and programs for the coming year.  Each of the advisors assumed responsibility for participation in one or more of these high-impact programs.

   

In October, LibForAll board members President Wahid, Ahmad Dhani and C. Holland Taylor delivered a widely-publicized keynote address  on how to secure peace with the Muslim world at the National Homeland Defense Symposium sponsored by NORAD/ USNORTHCOM and its commander-in-chief, Admiral Timothy J. Keating (shown right, with Ahmad Dhani).

   

In 2006, LibForAll Foundation expanded its educational programs in Indonesia sponsoring curriculum development; providing scholarships to poor children; and supporting Islamic boarding schools (photo, left) that ensure orphans will receive a quality education that teaches tolerance, the dignity and value of each individual, and respect for different beliefs, while preparing them to succeed in the modern world.

   

In November, celebrated Arab-American music producer Dawn Elder began advising LibForAll Foundation regarding its Warriors of Love project.  We anticipate that Ms. Elder will lead a team of acclaimed, multi-Grammy-Award-winning producers with extensive cross-cultural experience, to expand the scope and impact of this LibForAll project to reach a truly global audience.

   

Major activities in this project will include working with top international artists to record Warriors of Love in the languages of every significant cultural/linguistic/commercial music market in the Islamic world, including Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, Hindi/Urdu, Bengali, Swahili, Mandingue, Hausa, French, Spanish, Russian and English; producing and broadcasting music videos of the same; and orchestrating a Live Aid/We Are the World-style musical celebration of Islam as a religion of divine love and tolerance, in which top European, American and Latin entertainment celebrities will join the international artists described above to record Warriors of Love in English, and perform live in concert.

   

The Warriors of Love project represents the pop culture element of LibForAll's Global Network/Mobilizing LIGHT program, which is slated to expand significantly in 2007.  LibForAll's musical campaign has been endorsed by key Muslim theologians, who are joining with like-minded Muslim opinion leaders in the fields of religion, education, entertainment, popular culture, government, business and media to encourage "people of goodwill of every faith and nation" to unite as "warriors of love," and to reject all forms of religious hatred and violence. (Photo, right, of 12-page article that appeared in Rolling Stone Magazine featuring Dewa's album Republic of Love and the "musical fatwa.")

   

LibForAll's "Smiling Face of Islam" project will continue to translate and publish key works of progressive Muslim intellectuals and theologians on subjects vital to the future of freedom and democracy throughout the Muslim world, such as this book (Islam, the State and Civil Society) whose Arabic translation will soon be published in conjunction with the Cato Institute.

   

LibForAll's Grassroots Pluralist Network and Video Program will create a 30-lesson religious curriculum that promotes a pluralistic and tolerant understanding of Islam, and disseminate this video course via television to the general public, and via videodisk (VCD) to 14,000 Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia, whose enrollment exceeds 2.4 million students.  Project leaders include a number of world-class moderate Muslim theologians, such as LibForAll advisor Kyai Haji Mustofa Bisri, who addressed this gathering of over 4,000 religious leaders in September, 2006 (photo, left).
   

2007 will also witness the ongoing development of LibForAll Foundation's think tank subsidiary, the Nur al-Hikmah (“Light of Wisdom”) Society, which provides fellowships and supports the activities of key Muslim intellectuals and theologians, in their efforts to popularize a pluralistic and forward-thinking Islam.

Nur al-Hikmah's 2006 achievements include the writing and publication of four new books; editing and publication of two important anthologies; publication of more than 40 articles in national/international media; and generating seed ideas and proof of concepts for powerful projects like LibForAll Foundation's Wahhabi Exposé and its Grassroots Pluralist Network (above).

 

 

Prior Year Achievements Include:

 

n      Established working relationships with like-minded moderate Muslim leaders in the fields of religion, education & popular culture.  These include the former president of Indonesia and long-time head of the world’s largest Muslim organization, with 40 million members; the most prominent rock group in Indonesia; and leadership figures among a network of Islamic State Universities and Institutes;

n     Condemnation of religious extremism and terror – and strategy for defeating Islamist radicals – issued by one of the world’s most prominent Sunni Muslim leaders (LibForAll co-founder and board member Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid in the Wall Street Journal’s year-end edition); 

n      Successful launch of Indonesian pilot program, including:

n     Organized events and linked moderate and progressive Muslims, to support one another in the face of heavy criticism from well-financed religious extremists;

n     Validated a progressive interpretation of Islam to tens of millions of Indonesian Muslims;

n      Educational projects to counter religious extremism, ranging from scholarships for impoverished children to the development of school curricula that teach the value of tolerance and pluralism;

n      Establishment of LibForAll Foundation as an operational “think tank” which provides fellowships and supports the activities of  leading Muslim intellectuals and theologians, in their efforts to popularize moderate and progressive interpretations of Islam;

n     Launched a microcredit program for farmers, linked to a program to promote religious tolerance and diversity;

n     Helped establish a database that provides contact information for and accurately describes the activities of moderate and progressive Islamic organizations, in order to facilitate collaboration, help attract funding, and increase their visibility and effectiveness;

n     Began to disseminate progressive Muslim ideas from Indonesia throughout the Islamic world, by translating key texts on the subjects of democracy, civil liberty, women’s rights, separation of state and religion, etc. into Arabic & English;

n      Utilized popular culture to promote the ideals of liberty and tolerance to a mass audience, by working with entertainers and celebrities who share our vision of a just and peaceful world;

n     Helped to successfully block the imposition of a set of eleven radical fatwas (religious edicts) upon the 190 million Muslims of Indonesia (including banning of secularism, liberalism, pluralism, interfaith prayer and the disinheritance of children who convert to other religions);

n      Helped to discredit the terrorist group Laskar Jihad (Warriors of Jihad), which was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Christians in the provinces of eastern Indonesia (see Washington Post op-ed);

n     Helped to create a "musical fatwa" ~ using lyrics derived from the Qur'an and Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) to denounce religious hatred and terrorism. This song was launched in December of 2005, and quickly became the #1 hit on Indonesian radio, while its music video soared to the #1 spot on MTV Asia's popular show, Ampuh (Anak Pribumi Sepuluh) in 2006 (see articles from Religion News Service/Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal);

n      Launched an educational campaign in the U.S. and other Western countries, to mobilize support for progressive Muslims in their efforts to reconcile and integrate traditional Muslim societies with the contemporary world (coverage in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Denver Post, International Herald Tribune, Sydney Morning Herald, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and other media outlets);

n      Measurable impact: hundreds of millions of “hits” for anti-extremist messages in the Muslim world (TV viewers/newspaper readers/CD & radio listeners).