Short description:

This volume offers a comprehensive and interdisciplinary analysis of the origins, development, and increasing impact of the global Humanitarian Islam movement, aimed at promoting a humane and compassion-based reading of Islam across Indonesia and internationally.

Long description:

This volume offers a comprehensive and interdisciplinary analysis of the origins, development, and increasing impact of the global Humanitarian Islam movement, aimed at promoting a humane and compassion-based reading of Islam across Indonesia and internationally.

Formally established by senior Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) leaders in 2017, the Humanitarian Islam movement emerged as a direct response to the terror and extremism promoted by Islamist groups such as ISIS and al-Qaeda. While relatively unknown in Western academic circles, the movement has significantly influenced religious and geopolitical dynamics globally, including in the Middle East, Europe, and North America, by recontextualising problematic aspects of Islamic orthodoxy. Chapters present in-depth analysis of Nahdlatul Ulama’s theological reforms and their implications for the future of Indonesia, and Islam globally, and are written by distinguished scholars — including two by KH. Yahya Cholil Staquf, General Chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama — from a wide range of academic disciplines. The book also looks at concrete initiatives launched by Nahdlatul Ulama in conjunction with the global Humanitarian Islam movement.

Fostering a deeper understanding of Indonesia’s unique contributions to global Islamic thought and practice, the book will be of interest to scholars and postgraduate students in the fields of Islam, peace studies, religion and fundamentalism, and human rights. The volume also makes clear its relevance to policymakers in North America, Europe, and the Middle East, as well as its implications for international peace and security

Table of Contents:

1.     Introduction: A Movement of World-Changing Significance — Nahdlatul Ulama’s Humanitarian Islam

PART I: Background

2.     The Humanitarian Islam Movement: Its Genealogy and Global Impact

3.     The Antecedents of Humanitarian Islam in the Reformist Ideas of Harun Nasution, Nurcholish Madjid, and Abdurrahman Wahid

4.     Humanitarian Islam as a Response to Jihadi Extremism

PART II: Perspectives on Humanitarian Islam from Within Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)

5.     How Islam Learned to Adapt in Nusantara

6.     Humanitarian Islam and Sufism: Towards an Islamic Ethics of Cultivation and Ethos of Engagement

7.     The Roots of Humanitarian Islam in the Writings of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali and the Javanese Reception of His Ideas

8.     Towards a Reform of Islamic Teachings, and Principles, Regarding Muslim/Non-Muslim Relations

9.     Humanitarian Islam from the Perspective of Traditional Sunni Ulama

10.  Humanitarian Islam, the Prophet Muhammad (saw.), and the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs (al-Khulaf ā’ al-Rāshidūn)

PART III: Humanitarian Islam, Democracy, and Human Rights

11.  Positive Deviance Within the Indosphere and the Muslim World

12.  Humanitarian Islam, Christian Humanism, and Democracy

13.  The Indonesian Women’s Ulama Congress (KUPI) Movement and NU Women’s Religious Activism

PART IV: The Global Implications and Impact of Humanitarian Islam

14.  Nahdlatul Ulama and the Battle for the Soul of Islam

15.  Nahdlatul Ulama, Peacebuilding, and Humanitarian Islam

16.  The Global Soft Power of Humanitarian Islam: Prospects and Challenges Facing Nahdlatul Ulama’s Religious Diplomacy

17.  Nahdlatul Ulama and the R20 International Summit of Religious Leaders: A Transformative Moment in World Affairs

18.  Fiqh al-Hadarah and Its Implications for the United Nations and the Future of a Rules-Based International Order

PART V: Closing Reflections

19.  Conclusion: Moral Leadership at a Critical Juncture — Nahdlatul Ulama, Democracy, and the Quest for a Reformed Islamic Ethics

20.  Epilogue: Humanitarian Islam and the Post-World War II Human Rights Project