NU told to disseminate peaceful Islamic values internationally

Lamongan, NU Online
Nahdliyin (NU followers) called on Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) as the Indonesia's largest Muslim organization to both disseminate and propagate peaceful Islamic values internationally in dealing with any possible conflicts and tensions among fellow Muslims.

"We Nahdliyin do appreciate the brilliant steps taken by NU in internationalize its teachings to boost peace and harmony for the world that has been lttered fully with conflicts among fellow Muslims, especially in the Middle East," Deputy Chairman of the Lamongan chapter of NU, KH Ahmad Suyuthi, told NU Online here on Tuesday (14/06).

According to the clric popularly known as Abah Suyuthi, the emergence of so-called Jakarta Declaration is such a strategic step in promoting what is called Islam Nusantara that is a moderate form of Islam and is the best for being capable of 'holding a dialog' with local cultures.

The teachings of Islam maintained and preserved by NU could be a good model for the world in upholding peaceful values since it merged the concepts of Islam and nationalism as key factors to defect the integrity and unity of a country.

As reported by NU news portal, NU Online, the Jakarta Declaration was the outcome of the two-day International Summit of Moderate Islamic Leaders (ISOMIL), organized by NU with the aim of presenting solutions to conflicts considered to have emerged from a misinterpretation of Islamic teachings.

According to the declaration, the misinterpretation itself is the cause of the prolonged conflict in the Middle East, where some governments use religious teachings as the base of their political legitimacy, which has given rise to religious extremism.

Besides, economic and political injustice that brought poverty to some Islamic countries had been used by extremist groups as one of their reasons for unleashing their terror, the declaration states, which then led to a wrong concept of jihad executed by these groups. (Masdar)