Rahmatan lil 'Alamin (Blessing for All Creation)
Global Counter-Extremism Network
It is time for people
of goodwill from every faith and nation to recognize that a terrible
danger threatens humanity. We cannot afford to continue “business
as usual” in the face of this existential threat. Rather, we must
set aside our international and partisan bickering and join in
confronting the danger that lies before us.
Let us speak with ONE VOICE…
LibForAll
Foundation is building an informal global network of like-minded
civil and religious organizations, individual opinion-leaders and
supporters, to promote the culture of liberty and tolerance
worldwide. Inspired by the Qur'anic verse "For I [Allah] have
created you [Muhammad] to be nothing but a blessing for all
creation" (21:107), LibForAll's Rahmatan lil 'Alamin Network links
Muslim religious, educational, pop culture, government, business and
media leaders who are fully committed to a pluralistic and tolerant
understanding of Islam, and who seek to harmonize their
interpretations of the Qur'an and Sunnah (Prophetic traditions) with
rahmatan lil 'alamin's guiding principle of love, compassion,
tolerance and peace.
The fundamental "building block"
of LibForAll's global expansion, this Rahmatan lil 'Alamin Network
is designed to identify, mobilize, encourage and support powerful
Muslim leaders who are opposed to the spread of radical Islam,
thus laying a foundation for the expansion of successful LibForAll
program templates country-by-country worldwide. In the words of
LibForAll co-founder and board member Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid
(1940-2009), our goal is to unite "people of good will of
every faith and nation... to banish the ideology of hatred to
the darkness from which it emerged."
Our purpose is to develop a cultural, intellectual and theological
bulwark to support moderate and progressive interpretations
of Islam, in order to reduce the appeal of religious extremism
to new generations of Muslims. These activities are critical, because moderate and
progressive Muslims have few organized sources of international
encouragement and support—unlike radical Islamist networks
worldwide, which enjoy immense financial backing from Saudi and
other patrons.
LibForAll's counter-extremism network activities
span the globe, and include numerous and diverse events, such as
helping to organize a
unique peace gathering which brought together the Dalai
Lama and Muslim leaders from over thirty nations in April of 2006,
in an event sponsored by the
Kirlin Foundation.
In June of 2007, LibForAll hosted an
historic religious
summit on the island of Bali, which called upon religious
leaders throughout the world 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."
Other activities that illustrate the power
of LibForAll's global networking strategy include:
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A delegation to Egypt,
where LibForAll Foundation received the blessings
and support of the Grand Shaykh of al-Azhar,
and favorable coverage from that nation's leading media outlets,
helping to lend credibility and amplify the voices of the
grassroots
pluralist leaders who are taking part in LibForAll's TV/Video
program, Lautan Wahyu (Ocean of Revelations);
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High-profile
contributions by
Indonesian religious leaders to help remove the poison of hatred
that has long plagued relations between Israel and the Muslim
world, while acting as
"sincere and honest brokers" concerned about the fate of all
parties to the tragic conflict between Israel and Palestine; and
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A
rare visit by
LibForAll co-founder Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid to the
U.S.,
to accept the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Medal of Valor; support
moderate American Muslims; and advise
top lawmakers, senior White House
officials, and other policy makers how to engage constructively
with Islam.
Another example of
our networking activities was a LibForAll Award ceremony held in
Jakarta, Indonesia, to mobilize support for Ahmad Dhani and members
of the group Dewa, who had been under heavy attack by religious
extremists for promoting a moderate, pluralistic and deeply spiritual
interpretation of Islam in their widely-popular music.
H.E. Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid—Indonesia’s former president
and longtime head of the world's largest Muslim organization, the Nahdlatul Ulama,
with nearly 40 million members—hosted the event at the NU's
headquarters in Jakarta. Also present, as moderator, was Dr.
Abdul Munir Mulkhan, Vice-Secretary of the world's second-largest
Islamic organization, the Muhammadiyah — demonstrating the
effectiveness of theologians and rock stars working hand-in-hand to
promote a pluralistic and tolerant understanding of Islam.
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LibForAll CEO C.
Holland Taylor and Mr. Wahid, its patron, jointly presented the
LibForAll Award to members of the legendary Indonesian band Dewa.
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The award was given in recognition of Dewa's “outstanding
contribution to world peace, by communicating the values of
spiritual love, freedom and tolerance to millions of listeners
in Indonesia and abroad.”
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In
recent years, religious extremists have been responsible for the
deaths of thousands of Indonesians—Christian and Muslim alike—in
the eastern provinces of Maluku and Sulawesi. In response to
these atrocities, Dewa’s leader, Ahmad Dhani, composed the
best-selling album Laskar Cinta (“Warriors of Love”).
Released in November of 2004, it quickly rose to the top of the
charts and created a national sensation.
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Tens of millions of
Indonesians have watched Dewa’s concerts on TV or live, and
eagerly listen to their music in cities, towns and villages
throughout the vast archipelago, which is home to the world’s
largest Muslim population. Ahmad Dhani and his band Dewa have
presented Indonesia’s youth with a stark choice, and one easy
for the vast majority to answer. Do they want to join the army
of hatred, or the army of love?
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In
recent months, religious extremists have launched vicious
attacks on Ahmad Dhani—accusing him of being an infidel and
hauling him into court, because of the message of spiritual love
contained in Laskar Cinta.
They seek to ban Ahmad Dhani 's and Dewa’s use of rock music to
promote a spiritual and progressive interpretation of Islam that
threatens the appeal of their own Wahhabi-inspired extremism.
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The LibForAll Award
ceremony in Jakarta brought together leaders of the two largest
Muslim organizations in the world—Abdurrahman Wahid of the Nahdlatul Ulama and Abdul Munir Mulkhan of the Muhammadiyah—who
jointly defended Ahmad Dhani and Dewa’s freedom of artistic
expression, and the integrity of their religious views.
(From right to left: Ahmad Dhani, Abdurrahman Wahid, Abdul Munir
Mulkhan and C. Holland Taylor.)
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Several dozen members
of the press attended the event, including virtually all of
Indonesia’s television networks, which broadcast coverage of the
award to millions of viewers nationwide. The
message conveyed to the public was that in the eyes of the
world's leading Islamic organizations—and the international
community at large—Ahmad Dhani and Dewa represent all that is
best in the Indonesian tradition of religious tolerance and
diversity.
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