Muslim thinkers and leaders have reinterpreted Prophet Muhammad’s seventh-century Medina Charter from Indonesia to Malaysia, Morocco, Turkey, and Sudan, seeking peaceful coexistence, human dignity, and a more inclusive Muslim world based on a vision of pluralism, justice, religious freedom, and common citizenship
The global spice trade transformed Indonesia into the centre of European colonial rivalry, where Dutch conquest and the Banda genocide gave way to a post-colonial nation shaped by Sukarno’s anti-colonial vision, the Bandung Conference, enduring Indian civilisational influences, and cultural traditions such as wayang, the Ramayana, and the Mahabharata
Nahdlatul Ulama emerged in 1926 after the collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate and the reshaping of the Muslim world, developing a model rooted in scholarship, pluralism, and compassion that evolved into the world’s largest Muslim organization and a leading advocate of Humanitarian Islam, interfaith cooperation, and global peace
When Anwar Ibrahim was making his name as a promising student leader in the 1970s, an Indian economist’s works were among those the future Malaysian Prime Minister immersed himself in
Suharto’s elevation as a national hero opened the wounds of the mass killings, repression, corruption, and militarisation, which were never fully confronted or healed, under his over three-decade dictatorship. It becomes more fraught as Prabowo strengthens the military’s role, raising fears that Indonesia may be drifting back. Accountability or amnesia will determine whether Indonesia’s democracy endures or creeping authoritarianism continues
Zakat atau 2,5% dari tabungan yang wajib disumbangkan umat Islam untuk beramal telah mengubah kehidupan di negara-negara seperti Indonesia dan berpotensi untuk mengurangi kemiskinan global serta berkontribusi terhadap Tujuan Pembangunan Berkelanjutan PBB jika dimanfaatkan secara profesional
Despite evidence that polygamy is marginal, declining, and not specific to a religious group, it has been weaponised against Muslims to fuel Islamophobia, even as the Quran, the primary source of Islamic law, backs monogamy as the preferred model of marriage, underlining how polygamy can never be fair and just
Amid global anti-Muslim hysteria and the clash of civilizations narrative, the lived reality tells a different story: Hindus, Christians, and other minorities thrive in Muslim-majority societies like Indonesia and the Gulf, where Islamic traditions coexist with mutual respect, defining social and political life
China is reclaiming its over two millennia-long influence as a global center of trade, culture, and power after a period of decline under colonialism, thanks to economic growth, diplomacy, and strategic partnerships, positioning itself as a key shaper of the emerging world order
Centenarian Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s longest-serving Prime Minister who returned to politics at 92 after retiring in 2003, transformed his country over his 22-year rule through pragmatic policies that spurred economic growth and development, transforming a commodity-based economy into a high-tech industrial hub
