TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Seeking common ground: Human rights, Islam in Java
With its main title of Halaqah Islam Ramah HAM (Study Circle on Human Rights-Friendly Islam), the pilot course was presented on March 5 to 7 to the santri (senior students) of Al-Urwatul Wutsqo traditional Islamic boarding school in Jombang, East Java.
Change Size
Best of both worlds: A student enters the gate of the Kauman Islamic Boarding School which features Chinese traditional lanterns. (JP/Kusumasari Ayuningtyas)
H
uman rights are the rights that we believe are inherent to our being members of the Homo sapiens species. In many ways they are the aggregation of human aspirations down the centuries, yet their observance has been fitful at best for the vast majority of mankind.
And thus after one period of particular bestiality, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an effort to decree the minimum level of rights to which all nations should aspire to, will celebrate its 70th birthday this coming December.
These 30 basic human rights are, of course, the compilation of mere mortals, and while Article 18 provides for freedom of belief and religion, guidance on religious matters was rightly left to the individual religions.
In Indonesia, with its majority-Muslim population, this often means pesantren (Islamic boarding schools), which like similar religious institutions in other lands set out to not only provide religious instruction but also furnish students with the capabilities for life ahead.
