NU community founded in U.S.

Sat, 07/05/2008 12:20 PM | National

BOSTON, Massachusetts: Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) youth activists in the United States have founded a community that aims to help bridge understanding between Islam and the West.

Initiators of the NU community include Sumanto Al-Qurtubi and Achmad Tohe, both PhD candidates at Boston University, Achmad Munjid, PhD candidate at Temple University, and Ulil Abshar Abdalla, PhD candidate at Harvard University.

"Antagonism does not necessarily mark relations between Islam and the West. Islam can positively contribute to the West and the other way round instead," the students said in a statement read out in a gathering here recently.

A number of young up-and-coming members from Muhammadiyah were also present.

The students expressed their concerns about the prejudice that still prevailed in Islam-West relations, the erosion of nationalism and statesmanship among Indonesian people and the weakening of NU as a religious organization. -- JP

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