What We Do
LibForAll and Bayt ar-Rahmah plan and execute their programs in cooperation with like-minded leaders in the fields of religion, education, popular culture, government, business and the media, and are systematically building a global counter-extremism network that unites top opinion leaders in each of these fields. This, in turn, enables LibForAll/Bayt ar-Rahmah to extend their reach to a grassroots level, and helps eliminate the underlying causes of terrorism—by creating and propagating models for a prosperous, moderate and tolerant Islam.
A Track Record of World-class Results
Sri Ayati’s Legacy depicts a slain Catholic freedom fighter, whose lifeless body lies cradled in the arms of Indonesia’s first president, Soekarno. The painting vividly illustrates why the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation and democracy was established as a multi-religious/pluralistic state, with a constitutional guarantee of equal rights for all its citizens, and has been adopted by Gerakan Pemuda Ansor as a symbol of the Humanitarian Islam movement.
Co-founded by Bayt ar-Rahmah and Nahdlatul Ulama’s young adults organization, Gerakan Pemuda Ansor, the global “Humanitarian Islam” movement seeks to restore rahmah (universal love and compassion) to its rightful place as the primary message of Islam, while positioning these efforts within a much broader, ongoing campaign to reject any and all forms of tyranny, and foster the emergence of a global civilization endowed with nobility of character
Like Islam Nusantara, Nahdlatul Ulama and GP Ansor, Humanitarian Islam traces its roots to Java’s 15th/16th century Wali Songo (“Nine Saints”) movement, whose wisdom, respect for pre-existing cultures and profoundly spiritual modes of da‘wah (proselytism) precipitated the emergence of a great Islamic civilization in the Malay Archipelago (Nusantara), rooted in the principle of rahmah and other noble values of religion
Integral to LibForAll and Bayt ar-Rahmah’s global campaign to operationalize the Gerakan Pemuda Ansor Declaration on Humanitarian Islam, in conjunction with like-minded civil society institutions, governments and people of good will of every faith and nation, including the Nahdlatul Ulama and Ansor itself
The Nusantara Statement—signed at the Second Global Unity Forum by an international coalition of religious and political figures, including preeminent NU spiritual leaders—constitutes an open invitation to join the burgeoning global movement for Humanitarian Islam, while articulating the movement’s objectives
Sister organization of LibForAll and its International Institute of Qur’anic Studies (IIQS)
Home of Divine Grace for Revealing and Nurturing Islam as a Blessing for All Creation (Bayt ar-Rahmah li ad-Da‘wa al-Islamiyyah Rahmatan li al-‘Alamin) was established to fulfill the vision of LibForAll/IIQS co-founder KH. Abdurrahman Wahid: “By working together, people of goodwill from every faith and nation can help defeat religious extremism and restore the majesty of Islamic teachings as a source of universal love and compassion (rahmatan lil ‘alamin), which represents a vital key to building a just, prosperous and peaceful world.” ~ from President Wahid’s introduction to The Illusion of an Islamic State
Works in cooperative association with the world’s largest Muslim organization—Nahdlatul Ulama—whose spiritual leader (Kyai Haji A. Mustofa Bisri) and the General Secretary of its Supreme Council (Kyai Haji Yahya Cholil Staquf) are among the founding directors and officers of Bayt ar-Rahmah
Formulated, and is systematically operationalizing, the Gerakan Pemuda Ansor Declaration on Humanitarian Islam “road map,” which constitutes “a serious, long-term socio-cultural, political, religious and educational campaign to transform Muslims’ understanding of their religious obligations, and the very nature of Islamic orthodoxy”
Co-sponsored and helped coordinate the Nahdlatul Ulama’s International Summit of Moderate Islamic Leaders (ISOMIL) and GP Ansor’s Global Unity Forum and their respective historic declarations in May of 2016
“[The] profoundly spiritual and tolerant worldview embodied in the term Islam Nusantara has begun to expand beyond its local framework to a global environment. Many lines of communication have been initiated between the Nahdlatul Ulama and various Western governments. [Spiritual leaders within] the Nahdlatul Ulama have begun to establish working relationships and operational nodes in many countries, operating under the organizational name, ‘Home of Divine Grace (Bayt ar-Rahmah).’ Each operational node propagates the model of tolerance embraced by the Nahdlatul Ulama—such as peaceful coexistence with others and respect for individuals’ right to privacy, including freedom of thought and conscience—and seeks to accomplish this by leveraging the profound humane and spiritual values that underlie and animate all religions.” ~ Muhammad Abul Fadl, “Political Horizons for Indonesian Islam,” Al-Arab
The brainchild of Kyai Haji A. Mustofa Bisri, the phenomenally successful Islam Nustanara campaign emerged from a six-week-long Festival of East Indies Saints, held in conjunction with maulid (celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birth) in January and February of 2014
Adopted as the theme (“Strengthening East Indies Islam for the Benefit of Indonesian and World Civilization”) of the NU’s 33rd National Congress held from 1 – 5 August 2015 in Jombang, East Java, to select its national leadership and establish an agenda for the next five years (2015 – 2020)
Publicly embraced by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who proclaimed: “I’m profoundly concerned by the political upheavals and bloodshed in the Muslim Middle East… Praise be to God, our Islam is Islam Nusantara. Islam that is gentle and polite. Islam that is civilized. That is Islam Nusantara: Islam full of tolerance.”
Islam Nusantara
LibForAll/IIQS film The Divine Grace of Islam Nusantara launched at the XVth National Congress of GP Ansor (the NU Youth Movement) and featured on the front page of the New York Times and other international media
Inspired a series of historic summits and declarations by Nahdlatul Ulama and GP Ansor that articulate the shari‘ah basis for a global Humanitarian Islam movement, including: the ISOMIL Nahdlatul Ulama Declaration (2016); the First Global Unity Forum Declaration (2016); the Gerakan Pemuda Ansor Declaration on Humanitarian Islam (2017); and, most recently, the Nusantara Statement and Nusantara Manifesto (2018)
Vienna Observatory for Applied Research on Terrorism & Extremism
Funded by Austria’s Interior Ministry, VORTEX united world-class expertise—academic, theological and technical (big data analysis)—regarding the online/offline activities of ISIS, al-Qaeda and other jihadi groups
Established in order to “produce academically sound research concerning [the] ideology of religious hatred, supremacy and violence, and contribute to developing the societal consensus, and sound government policies, necessary to marginalize, discredit and defeat Islamist extremism.”
Findings contributed to the central board of the world’s largest Muslim organization concluding that: “The Nahdlatul Ulama regards specific modes of interpreting Islam (tafsir) as the most significant factor causing the spread of religious extremism among Muslims.” (ISOMIL Nahdlatul Ulama Declaration, 2016, point 8)
Formulated the 2008 IIQS strategic plan, which—through systematic and institutional implementation by Bayt ar-Rahmah—has mobilized a large body of Sunni Muslim authorities to engage in a wide-ranging, concerted and explicit project of theological renewal (i.e., reform) for the first time since the late Middle Ages
“Small, narrow minds cannot provide a solution to the problems facing Muslim societies today. We need big, broad minds to understand the fundamental message of the Qur’an as rahmatan lil ‘alamin—a source of grace and blessing for all humanity—and how to bring this message down to earth.” ~ Dr. Ahmad Syafii Maarif, IIQS Co-founder and Former Chairman of the Muhammadiyah Central Board
“LibForAll is an NGO that cares deeply about Islam and Muslims… LibForAll aims to present the moderate and tolerant face of Islam, and explain the importance of [Muslims] returning to the essence of Islamic teachings which, until now, have been poorly understood by many groups [both in Islam and the West].” ~ al-Ahram (Egypt)
Western policy experts have described the work of IIQS as “invaluable,” “going to the heart of the matter,” “welcome and timely,” “a milestone,” “thoroughly well-conceived and comprehensive in scope,” and “of singular importance.”
IIQS: Birth of a Movement
Promotes a pluralistic and tolerant understanding of Islam, using the most popular communications medium in the Muslim world
Created by top Muslim theologians, and closely integrated with Bayt ar-Rahmah
Subtitled in Arabic, Turkish, Indonesian, English and German
“Rauf Ceylan, professor of Religious Studies at the University of Osnabrück, thought highly of the first episode of Ocean of Revelations to be screened in Germany. ‘It was very impressive to see the rich diversity of Islam conveyed in word and image, and especially (to hear) the voices from Indonesia,’ explained Ceylan…. What impressed the Islamic scholar more than anything else was the film’s depiction of Islam’s spiritual depths, which were accentuated again and again, along with its mystical components. ‘And it is tragic that precisely this Islam, this stream of Islam, which represents over 90% of Muslims, is completely overlooked in public debates (about Islam).’” ~ Ulrike Hummel, “Indonesian Television Series Ocean of Revelations Opposes the Political Instrumentalization (of Islam),” Qantara Deutschland
Trailer: Ocean of Revelations
Went viral on the Internet and ignited a national firestorm of controversy in Indonesia, discrediting extremist ideology and movements as a threat to the nation, and to Islam itself
Dramatically impacted Indonesia’s 2009 elections – derailing the ambitions of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated political party PKS
English edition (launched in May of 2011) hailed as “remarkable” and “a roaring success” by the Washington Post
Lasting impact helped shape the outcome of Indonesia’s 2014 national elections
“The Illusion of an Islamic State… has given rise to enormous polemics, which is precisely what [its authors] intended. All kinds of people are now following the lead of Gus Dur and Syafii Maarif, [criticizing Wahhabism and transnational Islamist movements]. But what is clear is that this book was created by LibForAll…. They are attacking ‘transnational Islam,’ using deep-rooted local power structures.” ~ Hidayatullah (Allah’s Guidance) magazine
Top Muslim leaders publicly condemned Holocaust denial, branding Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “a liar”
Covered in over 2,000 media outlets worldwide, including live TV broadcast in the Middle East, in Arabic
“Holocaust denial is thus the most visible symptom of an underlying disease — partly political, partly psychological, but mainly spiritual — which is the inability (or unwillingness) to recognize the humanity of others. In fighting this disease, religious leaders have an essential role to play. Armed with the knowledge that God created religion to serve as rahmatan lil ‘alamin, or a blessing for all creation, we must guard against efforts to demonize or belittle followers of other faiths.” ~ KH. Abdurrahman Wahid and Rabbi Israel Lau, “The Evils of Holocaust Denial,” Wall Street Journal
Generated years of saturation media coverage for counter-extremist messaging with multiple #1 albums and hit songs – inspiring millions of Muslim youth to proclaim “Yes to the Warriors of Love (Laskar Cinta)! No to the Warriors of Jihad!”
“References to the Koran are woven into one of Dewa’s most popular songs, “Laskar Cinta,” or “Warriors of Love.” Dhani said he wrote the lyrics to beckon his fans into a loving Islam.
“‘Hey there, all you lovers of peace,’ the song goes. ‘Watch out, watch out and be on guard — for lost souls, anger twisting their hearts, for lost souls, poisoned by ignorance and hate. . . . Warriors of Love, teach the mystical science of love, for only love is the eternal truth and the shining path for all God’s children everywhere in the world.'” ~ Rebecca U. Cho, “Rock Star Rattles Radical Islam,” Religion News Service/Washington Post
