The Indonesian conference was hosted by Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim organization in the world, and was opened by the vice president of the officially secular country.
NU’s membership estimates range from 30 million to 50 million; most are in Indonesia. About 87 percent of the country’s population of 250 million follow Islam; roughly 10 percent are Christian. Hinduism and Buddhism comprise the remainder.
The relatively peaceful religious demography has been hailed as a strength of what Indonesians call “East Indies/Archipelago Islam.”
“We don't want to dictate to the world,” said NU chairman Said Aqil Siradj, “but we want to inspire [other countries by showing that] our concept of Islam could maintain peace and harmony within the diversity of Indonesia."
Participants from Iran, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere signed the Jakarta Statement, which highlighted two main ideas. First, the way Indonesian Islam accommodates local culture—for example, promoting an ancient Buddhist temple as a historical site—is an example to be imitated.
Second, extremism thrives through poor interpretation of religious heritage that does not compromise between Islam and nationalism.
"The first thing that must be done in order to overcome radicalism and terrorism is to be honest,” said Yahya Cholis Staquf of the Nadhlatul Ulama National Board. “There may be elements from Islam that are used as a basis or justification for hardline groups to carry out their actions."
Lebanese cleric Amin Kurdi said he appreciated NU’s “experience in disseminating good, moderate and tolerant Islam.” Lebanon is one of 10 nations to recently announce the establishment of an independent NU branch to promote a peaceful Islam. Forty countries already are special members of the NU central board.
NU began its ideological campaign against ISIS last fall, and has established a nonprofit in Winston-Salem, NC, to coordinate conferences and seminars promoting a peaceful Islam. NU also partners with the University of Vienna in Austria to study and combat extremist propaganda. So far NU is especially active in Afghanistan, where 6,000 local religious leaders serve in 22 offices throughout the country.
Though Indonesia is generally hailed for its religious tolerance, the early 2000s saw so many attacks on Christians that they were effectively “cleansed” from part of the country. Recently, a law that requires churches to get permission from the local religious authority before beginning to build has led to the closure of more than 1,000 churches.
Indonesia has suffered terrorism in recent years, most notably bombings in Bali in 2002 and 2005. The BBC reported 500 Indonesians have traveled to fight with ISIS, and outward religiosity appears to be on the rise.
But the NU conference built on Indonesia’s 2014 effort to promote religious toleration.

Combating extremism...

Quote:


http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2016/may/more-than-300-islamic-leader...

A different perspective is that being the largest muslim nation on earth, with around 200 million muslims, and the country remains secular and relatively free of extremism. The number of successful terrorist attacks that have been carried out by Indonesians since the overthrow of Suharto you could count on one hand.

............................An Islamic court's decision to have a Muslim model whipped for drinking beer at a pub has triggered controversy in Malaysia, a multicultural country where such convictions are extremely rare.

Last week, a Sharia or religious court sentenced Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, to six strokes of the cane and a fine of 5,000 ringgit ($A1700) after she pleaded guilty to consuming alcohol in eastern Pahang state last year.

Her conviction created a furore in the nation which is predominantly Muslim, but also home to large Indian and Chinese minorities. Alcohol is widely available in most parts of the country and Muslims are rarely punished for consuming it.

"The punishment of whipping is defined as torture and hence we should not in any way condone it," said Amnesty International Malaysia executive director Nora Murat..............

polite_gandalf wrote on May 29^th, 2016 at 2:03pm:


Might help if you stick to the truth Gandalf.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_incidents_in_Indonesia

Terrorist incidents...lmao at PC idiocy

Baronvonrort wrote on May 29^th, 2016 at 2:09pm:


Thanks I stand corrected. Still, its precious few for what is supposed to be the largest single country of bloodthirsty, psychopathic devil worshipers - wouldn't you say? Note also that some on that list are West Papuan separatists. So my point stands - a mere handful, but more importantly, Indonesia's secular society and rejection of extremism both in politics and their lives rules supreme.

Mainstream muslim organisations like the NU, that promote peace and coexistence, play a massive role in this success story.