Islam describes a proper way for establishing a relationship in between husband and wife great guidance available within religion in the light of Quran and Sunnah. In 845 CE, China’s Tang Dynasty launched the great anti-Buddhist persecution, stimulated in part by the fact that too many people were entering tax-free monasteries. Many of us are now ready to admit that hostility for Israel has been a great mistake, perhaps the worst mistake Muslims have made in the last 50 years. For instance, the number of Indonesian women who wear the Islamic headscarf (in Indonesian: kerudung or jilbab) has risen rapidly over the past 20-25 years (having become a common sight on the streets of Indonesia today). Those were the early days of the Islamization of Indonesia. Nonetheless, it is true that the country’s traditional ‘secular parties’ (such as PDI-P and Golkar) have also been experiencing the process of Islamization. But we know that it actually is true.

The priests of the Drowned God know how to drown a man and then bring him back to life, using the kiss of life. Another example is that Indonesian government officials – even those who are not Muslim themselves – now always tend to open their speeches or statements using the Arabic phrase As-salāmuʿalaykum (in English: Peace be upon you). The terms Islamism or radicalism (or Islamic militancy or fundamentalism), on the other hand, refer to the desire of a specific group (usually a small group that lacks political power) to impose their conservative version of Islam onto society and politics, often using (the threat of) violence to achieve their goal. Hence, it needs little imagination to understand that the influence of Islamic principles and ethics on Indonesian society, politics, and the economy is huge. Although around 88 percent of the Indonesian population is Muslim, Indonesia is not an Islamic country ruled by Islamic law. Most Indonesian Muslims can in fact be labelled ‘moderate Muslims’, meaning that the majority approves of a secular democracy and a pluralist society. In this sense, it can exploit such partial freedoms as our constitution gives, but it can’t be its final goal to say: Yes, now we too are a body with rights, now we are present just like the Catholics and the Protestants.

Despite constitutional promises of equal rights, minority groups face significant barriers in accessing quality education, employment and political representation, according to Amnesty International and the U.S. Thanks to the power of Hercules, Shazam has godly strength that at least equal to (if not greater than) Superman’s. God is a power, a power that created this universe. Sin then, is falling short of that which God has created us to be and lying about Him by the way we live. This is the reason for which Allah created all that exists: Angels, Jinn, mankind, heavens, earth and animals etc. Allah created everything only to worship Him Alone. The right to worship freely was promoted by most ancient Indian dynasties until around 1200 C.E. Thus, as no one wishes to deny Muslims complete sovereignty over Mecca, from an Islamic point of view there is no sound theological reason to deny the Jews the same right over Jerusalem. From a theological point of view, dialogue between Jews and Muslims is easier than, say, dialogue between Jews and Chrisitians.

As to Jewish-Muslim relationships, if we reflect on the level of inter-religious dialogue in past centuries, we must frankly admit that in this respect we have been moving backwards. Indeed, dialogue between Jews and Muslims was much more extensive in the past. The more we discover our common roots, the more we can hope for a common future of peace and prosperity. One can blame the current separation on the political situation, but that does not free intellectuals and men of religion of their responsibility. Ibn Gabirol (Avicembro), Maimonides, Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes) were not isolated intellectuals but part of an ongoing intercommunication and shared well of knowledge. Even in the more oppressed countries, there is a certain part of the educated population that does not blindly accept the local view. In a later stage (possibly starting from the 13th century) Islamic kingdoms started to be established by local (indigenous) rulers in the Archipelago (mainly in the western part of the Archipelago, such as on the islands of Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan).