The Smiling Face of Islam:
Publications & Translations
LibForAll is facilitating the spread of
pluralistic and tolerant ideas both within and between Indonesia and the rest of the
Islamic world, by creating, translating and publishing important works
in Indonesian, Arabic
and English.
These publications/translations are widely disseminated in
traditional print format; via selective posting on the internet for
free and instantaneous download; and by using innovative approaches,
such as comic books, which can be readily distributed to a large
audience.
This project serves to create a
powerful synergy between pluralistic and tolerant Muslims in various
parts of the world by making their writings mutually accessible, and
helps build a cultural, intellectual and theological bulwark to
support peaceful and tolerant interpretations of Islam.
Recognizing the vital need to disseminate the views of
progressive Muslim opinion leaders as widely as possible, the
Swedish Ministry
for Foreign Affairs provided funding for LibForAll's Smiling
Face of Islam project, in the spring of 2008, to enable the
translation and publication of several key works:
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In the 1980’s and 90’s LibForAll co-founder Kyai
Haji Abdurrahman Wahid was instrumental in the development
of Indonesia’s civil society, and played a key role in that
nation’s successful transition to democracy. Throughout his
life, President Wahid demonstrated a courageous and unwavering
commitment to defending the rights of ethnic and religious
minorities, and to freedom of artistic, intellectual and religious
expression.
LibForAll is translating a large selection of President Wahid's
writings into English and Arabic, and will publish these under
the title My Islam, Your Islam, Our Islam, Their Islam.
This title is derived from an article that appeared in July of
2007 in
Newsweek/Washington Post's
On Faith series, illustrating President Wahid’s visionary
approach to issues of religious freedom and tolerance. |
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| Wahyu (Revelation) is a new journal
that will serve as the voice of LibForAll’s
Rahmatan lil ‘Alamin ("Blessing for All Creation")
Global Network. Its target audience is key decision-makers
and opinion leaders from around the world—Muslim and
non-Muslim alike—who recognize the vital need to counter
religious extremism, and to ensure the triumph of a pluralistic
and tolerant understanding of Islam. The journal will be
published bi-annually in English, Indonesian and Arabic. |
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LibForAll Advisor Kyai
Haji A. Mustofa Bisri ("Gus Mus", left) is a
renowned leader of the world's largest Muslim organization,
the 40-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama. Among his many writings
is a book that resoundingly debunks over 30 salah kaprah—false
interpretations of Islam that are widely mistaken for the
truth, and used by extremists to justify their ideology of
religious hatred, supremacy and violence. LibForAll's
Smiling Face of Islam project will convert this book into
a series of comics, which can be readily distributed to a
large audience in print format and via the web. This series
will appear in Indonesian, Arabic and English. |
Prior LibForAll translations and publications include:
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Islam,
the State and Civil Society, which represents
the best of contemporary Indonesian thought on a subject
vital to the future of freedom and democracy throughout
the Muslim world. |
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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, and Dr. Komaruddin Hidayat, the rector of Syarif Hidayatullah
Islamic State University in Jakarta. |
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In September
of 2007, 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 (below)—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 mid-2008. |
Introduction to the
Indonesian Edition of Two Faces of Islam:
"You hold in your hands an unusual and
thought-provoking book. Written by an American Muslim, it evidences
a deep appreciation and respect for the Qur’an, the Sunna, the
Prophet Muhammad SAW and Islam itself as rahmatan lil 'alamin
(a blessing for all creation).
"Yet as the title suggests, there are those in
the world today whose limited understanding of Islam, and whose
actions, feed the cycle of anger, hatred and violence that threaten
all humanity.
"The Wahid Institute and LibForAll Foundation
believe that Indonesia can serve as a model for what many refer to
as “the smiling face of Islam,” and thereby help to untangle the
knot of conflict that grips so much of the world.
"We offer this book in the hope of a better
future for Indonesia and the world, and the growth of a global
civilization in which Muslims and non-Muslims alike respect one
another, and come to a mature understanding and appreciation of
Islam as a true blessing to nature and humanity."
KH. Abdurrahman
Wahid
C. Holland Taylor
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