We agree: The NU diaspora, specifically the members actively involved in special chapters of the NU (PCINU), could become the agents to popularize Islam in their surroundings. With its core value of adaptability to local cultures and wisdom, Islam Nusantara may be well received by the non-Muslim world.

The rise of Islamophobia and right-wing politicians, such as Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, Jean Marie Le Pen in France and President Donald Trump of the United States, shows the urgent need for a more adaptive and more tolerant method to introduce Islam to the Western world, amid the expressions and actions of extremism in the name of Islam.

In essence, this is the trail the special branch of the NU for the Netherlands has been trying to blaze. In 2017, the NU branch held the first international conference on Islam Nusantara, supported by among others the School of Theology of Vrije University, Amsterdam.

The conference was attended by scholars from Europe, Asia and North Africa. In his keynote speech, Vrije University scholar Thijl Sunier stated that the role and influence of Indonesian Muslims in Europe were meager. This is because the size of the diaspora in Europe is insignificant, at least compared to the number of Turks, Moroccans or other Middle Eastern Muslims in Europe. Another reason is that the Indonesian Islam is not seen as the flag bearer of Islam or as a compelling Islam in Europe.

Thus, Indonesian Muslims in the Netherlands and in Europe in general do not get their fair share of playing an important role in creating a discourse on Islam in the European context. However, the tide can be reversed through moderate Islamic groups, such as through NU chapters overseas.

Apart from the above conference event, the NU’s Netherlands branch initiated the signing of the “Islam Nusantara Declaration of Peace, Justice and Brotherhood for Humanity” in The Hague (aka the “Den Haag charter”). The charter pointed out the importance of Islam Nusantara as a social-political asset to promote the teaching of peaceful Islam for all.

Not only was the charter signed by members of the Indonesian Muslim diaspora, but also by interfaith activists, scholars and professors from several prominent universities in the Netherlands. The conference, along with several other cultural and dakwah (preaching) activities of the Netherlands’ NU branch, was part of the efforts to disseminate moderate Islam a la Islam Nusantara.

The Netherlands’ NU branch, established in 2014, has been successful in its citizen diplomacy to promote Indonesian’s view of moderate Islam to the outside world. However, citizen diplomacy alone is not enough to promote moderate Islam in Western countries like the Netherlands. It needs state support, the public diplomacy to facilitate and bridge the citizen diplomacy in order to be heard.

A good example has been shown by the Indonesian Embassy to the Netherlands. The embassy in The Hague extended its hand and opened its doors for the NU branch’s cultural event that was attended by the conference participants, an interreligious crowd and Islamic education stakeholders in the Netherlands.

In addition, Ambassador I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja invited four of his colleagues from the Indonesian embassies in Europe and the Middle East to share lessons learned about moderate Islam and to sign the Den Haag Charter. The Indonesian ambassadors were Husnan Bey Fananie for Azerbaijan, Achmad Chozin Chumaidy for Lebanon, Agus Maftuh Abegebriel for Saudi Arabia and Safira Machrusah for Algeria.

The decision of the Indonesian Embassy to the Netherlands to take part in the conference shows that the role of the government is instrumental along with citizen diplomacy to promote moderate Islam to the outside world. Such simultaneous two-track diplomacy helps to realize Indonesia’s foreign policy that the Constitution says is independent and meant to engage in global affairs.

For this very reason, we should see much more involvement of Indonesian missions helping to promote moderate Islam, also through the concept of Islam Berkemajuan (progressive Islam) from Muhammadiyah, another major Muslim organization in Indonesia.

This June, the Netherlands’ NU branch is to hold another conference that would include presenting the Al-Wasathiyyah Award, named after articulations of Islam as a “middle path”. The award is to be presented to a public and academic figure or organization based in the Netherlands that promotes a peaceful Islam to further acknowledge and familiarize the concept of Islam’s “middle path”.

Through these activities, the NU’s Netherlands branch hopes to encourage others to promote sustainable peace and mutual understanding between different religions and cultures, particularly between the West and the Islamic world. As stated by Karel Steenbrink, a Dutch scholar on intercultural theology, Islam Nusantara has values of nationalism
that stress the idea of loving your own country. Hence, it is in line with the state’s national interests.

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Fachrizal Afandi is a PhD candidate at the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society, Leiden University, the Netherlands. Muhammad Asad is a PhD candidate at the Department of Islam Studies at Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Both are board member of the Netherlands branch of Nahdlatul Ulama.

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