Multiculturalism and Religious Schools

By Abdullah Ubaid MatrajiJakarta - In past years, a quiet place with the feel of a holy shrine has been accused of being a terrorists’ nest promoting violence in the name of religion. Those that attend have been labeled exclusive, conservative, rigid, and intolerant. Pesantrens, Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia, have been facing severe criticism since Ali Amrozi bin Haji Nurhasyim, the perpetrator of the Bali Bombing and a former pesantren student was captured four years ago. To investigate whether this criticism is well-founded, the Jakarta-based International Center for Islam and Pluralism (ICIP) recently conducted a study to see whether...

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Why I want to learn English?

Actually, English is not my thing, but I need it now. At first, when I was studying in the University, I did not need it because my major was Islamic studies and reading Arabic books was required more than reading English literature. It became more of a requirement when I got a job working as a journalist. I always felt some difficulty when my boss gave me the task of interviewing a foreigner who used the English language. I had an experience that I was embarrassed about. I had to interview a mosque imam from the United Kingdom and the topic was democracy and Islamic phobia in the UK. I had no problem in the beginning, but after...

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Critic of Public Order Bylaw in Jakarta

Oleh Abdullah Ubaid MatrajiAs we knew that Jakarta is metropolitan and pluralism city. People come to this place from different background, for example: religious, race, and culture. Therefore, we want to live and associate with everyone to get the peaceful society. But, now we are finding the obstacles that make Jakarta society getting worse. The problem caused this condition is public order bylaw produced by Jakarta local government. Some articles indicated to discriminate the sick, women, non-Muslim, etc. For example, article 46, “Individuals or organizations are not allowed to keep alcoholic beverage without permission from the authorities.”...

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