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. Our goal 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.
One 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 have been under heavy attack by religious extremists for
promoting a liberal, progressive 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 Nadhlatul 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.
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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 Nadhlatul 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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