The President of Indonesia (largest Muslim population in a country), calls for an "Islamic Renaissance." Link
"Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called for greater democracy and efforts to improve the plight of Muslims and spread Islamic values..."
"History tells us that Muslims in the past contributed immensely to the march of civilization through groundbreaking achievements in the sciences, as well as in arts." But Yudhoyono added that Islam was now "on the defensive."
If you look at the history of Islam you see the balancing between making Islam first in sciences and technology and this is another example of it. But there is two ways that Islamists try to make this possible: Violent or peaceful expansion. The President's view of it seems to be the best and most effective as violent expansion turns many people away.
~ Greg
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This is the blog for the winter 2008 379R class on terrorism and counter-terrorism.
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2 comments:
I think this is a very interesting move by the president of Indonesia. It certainly is a delight to see, but I don't know that I honestly expect much to happen. I'm not sure he has the right political sway in the Middle East. The leaders of so many of the Middle Eastern countries are so fanatical and controlling I can't imagine them changing their stance. Hopefully this does open up some new avenues. I know the biggest hope would be that a lot of the people of the Middle Eastern nations would see the words of the Indonesian president and try to make a difference. Frankly though, I don't see this causing much of a change anytime soon, especially in the realm of terrorism.
i agree with scott, this is very interesting, and is a hopeful idea that is good to see, but its likeliness of occurring is small to me. unfortunately, the word jihad has too frequently be associated with bombings and fallen building to allow the word to be associated with a peaceful movement in the near future. though i understand his use of the world in the true religious sense of "struggle," too much of the world associates it with violence; i wouldnt be surprised if many in the middle east would have trouble forgetting this association as well. though he makes a good point and has a good message, the plausibility of this working out without a caliphate seems quite slim...
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