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The organization’s stated goal is to encourage dialogue among Islamic groups with a liberal understanding of Islam and to create a journalistic platform for analysis, background reports and interviews. “We also conduct workshops, public discussions and radio talk shows to discuss the current challenges for Muslim society following the end of the Suharto era,” explains Luthfi Assyaukanie, coordinator of Jaringan Islam Liberal. The Islamic scholar and lecturer at the Paramadina University in Jakarta knows exactly what he is talking about when he emphasizes the significance of his organization’s educational and publicity work: “We are now living in a democratic society. However, if we do not enrich it with our views, the radicals will try to fill this gap. We see ourselves as a reply to the rising Islamism in Indonesia.”
Source: Qantara, May 2008
23/05/10 12:41 AM
Undeterred by the jeers, Luthfi said the state should never side with a particular religion or criminalize worshipers who held different beliefs. “What if the majority of the country’s population followed Ahmadiyah?” he asked, once again inviting shouts of anger from the crowd. He was referring to the controversial minority Islamic sect that for years has suffered from discrimination and had their mosques burned down by hard-line Islamic groups.
Source: The Jakarta Globe, February 17, 2010
12/04/10 02:38 PM
Muslim scholar Luthfi Assyaukanie, who studied Islamic Law at Jordan University and took his doctoral degree from Melbourne University, said the Ahmadiyah case reflected a weakening effort to rejuvenate understanding about Islam and enlighten Muslim communities. “The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and the Indonesian Islamic Propagation Council (DDII) are controlled by those who defy the (Islamic) rejuvenation movement. They also dominate state agencies with certain religious authorities,” he told The Jakarta Post. The MUI declared Ahmadiyah “deviant” and demanded the government outlaw its activities.
Source: Jakarta Post, May 18, 2008
22/11/09 12:37 AM
‘The government does not follow the constitution but is instead trying to accommodate radical groups which are actually very small in number. It is dangerous for the future of religion freedom in our country,’ said Mr Luthfi Assyaukanie, coordinator of Liberal Islam Network. ‘If they succeed with the Ahmadiyya case, they will start with other cases including trying to push certain teachings in Islam.’
Source: Life, June 13, 2008
02/11/09 11:08 PM
“The ban is against the Indonesian constitution that guarantees freedom of religion,” said Luthfi Assyaukanie, chairman of the Liberal Islam Network think-tank. Mr. Yudhoyono “should have been firm toward the radical Muslim groups but he is bowing to their pressure instead. It’s a very shameful decision.”
Source: Reuters, 11 June 2008
31/10/09 11:02 PM
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