Launch of the Institute for Humanitarian Islam
“This initiative seeks to address a multitude of contemporary crises, through the realization of Islamic teachings rooted in universal love and compassion, empathy, and responsibility towards others”
~ H. Yaqut Cholil Qoumas,
Executive Director of the Institute for Humanitarian Islam
JAKARTA, Indonesia, 4 November 2024 — On the eve of a high-profile Conference on Humanitarian Islam attended by eminent scholars from North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, senior Nahdlatul Ulama leaders launched the Institute for Humanitarian Islam (IHI), in order to accelerate the movement’s global expansion from its newly established headquarters in Jakarta.
Headed by Indonesia’s former Minister of Religious Affairs (2020 – 2024) and co-founder of the Humanitarian Islam movement, H. Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, IHI will systematically promote the Humanitarian Islam agenda in cooperation with Nahdlatul Ulama and a group of closely affiliated entities, including Gerakan Pemuda Ansor, LibForAll Foundation, Bayt ar-Rahmah, the Center for Shared Civilizational Values, and the G20 Religion Forum (R20).
H.E. Dr. Nasaruddin Umar (above), Indonesia’s newly appointed Minister of Religious Affairs, delivered a keynote address in which he praised Nahdlatul Ulama Chairman H.E. KH. Yahya Cholil Staquf and the previous Minister of Religious Affairs, KH. Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, for having established the Institute for Humanitarian Islam in order to foster mutual understanding, compassion, and concrete actions to address humanitarian challenges throughout the world.
Dr. Nasaruddin Umar said that it is natural for there to be differences of ethnicity, culture, language, and faith among the world’s diverse peoples and nations. This is part of God’s plan for creation and cannot be eliminated. Anyone who tries to annihilate differences is actually seeking to deface or destroy the complex beauty of God’s creation, which may be compared to an enormous, wonderfully painted canvas. Seeking to annihilate differences is equivalent to inflicting scars upon the beautiful face of the earth.
Emphasizing the need for the Institute for Humanitarian Islam, H.E. Nasaruddin Umar added:
To the extent that any religion is used for destructive purposes, its teachings should be reinterpreted. I believe we must recontextualize such teachings, whenever an interpretation gives rise to oppression, discrimination, or inequality.
Humanitarian Islam emerged from Nahdlatul Ulama’s Islam Nusantara (“East Indies Islam”) movement, which a November 2015 front-page article in The New York Times described as “a relentless, religious repudiation of the Islamic State and the opening salvo in a global campaign by the world’s largest Muslim group to challenge its ideology head-on.”
The article — written by veteran journalist and award-winning foreign correspondent Joe Cochrane — catapulted Nahdlatul Ulama to prominence among governments and journalists around the world, helping to popularize the 2016 International Summit of Moderate Islamic Leaders and the ISOMIL Nahdlatul Ulama Declaration. This, in turn, inspired the birth of the Humanitarian Islam movement in 2017, an historic development also covered by Mr. Cochrane in a New York Times article titled “Indonesians Seek to Export a Modernized Vision of Islam.”
Academic papers presented at the November 2024 International Conference on Humanitarian Islam held in Jakarta have begun to trace a direct link between Egyptian, Saudi, and Emirati efforts to promote a more tolerant and smiling face of Islam to the 2017 Gerakan Pemuda Ansor Declaration on Humanitarian Islam, which directly influenced policy decisions by multiple Arab governments.
At a 4 November gala dinner attended by leading Indonesian political and religious figures, as well as participants in the International Conference on Humanitarian Islam, the Nahdlatul Ulama Central Board and Indonesia’s current Minister of Religious Affairs conferred the Humanitarian Islam Award on Joseph John Cochrane (1968 – 2021), and on his beloved son Sean. The Award cited “Joseph Cochrane’s visionary contribution to enlightening the world about the significance of the Islam Nusantara and Humanitarian Islam movements, which seek to foster the emergence of a global civilization endowed with noble character.”
C. Holland Taylor accepts the Humanitarian Islam Award bestowed upon Joseph and Sean Cochrane. The Award was presented by Indonesia’s Minister of Religious Affairs, KH. Nasaruddin Umar (above, center), and by KH. Yahya Cholil Staquf and H. Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, representing the Nahdlatul Ulama Central Board and the Institute for Humanitarian Islam, respectively.
Photo above: Scholars participating in the International Conference on Humanitarian Islam discuss the legacy of H.E. KH. Abdurrahman Wahid (“Gus Dur,” 1940 – 2009) in the anteroom to President Wahid’s office at the Nahdlatul Ulama Headquarters building in Central Jakarta, which has been preserved as a museum to the long-time Chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (1984 – 99).
Participants in the International Conference on Humanitarian Islam pose for a photo with Nahdlatul Ulama Chairman KH. Yahya Cholil Staquf (above), prior to a briefing and moderated discussion (below).
Conference participants and members of the Central Board of GP Ansor — NU’s 8-million-member young adults movement — stand with the painting Sri Ayati’s Legacy. Featured in Joe Cochrane’s May 2017 New York Times article, the painting has become a symbol of the Humanitarian Islam movement. It depicts Indonesia’s founding father, President Sukarno, cradling a slain Christian independence fighter in his arms.
Conference participants with Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo (center) at St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral in Jakarta. They arrived on the Cathedral grounds — after visiting Istiqlal, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia — by walking through the Tunnel of Friendship, which connects the two religious sites.
Pope Francis and Nasaruddin Umar — the Grand Imam of Istiqlal Mosque and Indonesia’s Minister of Religious Affairs — pose for a photo prior to walking through the Tunnel of Friendship to St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral on 5 September 2024.
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Presidential Address to the International Conference on Humanitarian Islam