Indonesian cleric Kyai Haji Yahya Cholil Staquf, the secretary-general one of the largest Muslim organizations in the world, makes a passionate plea for religious tolerance at a conference in Jerusalem.
“We have to alter our way in handling things,” the cleric, known as Pak Yahya, tells delegates at the AJC Global Forum. “Religion is used as a justification and as a weapon for conflict. We people of religion should ask ourselves, is it really the true function of religion?” he asks in a conversation with AJC’s Rabbi David Rosen.
“If I had to make a call to the world, I would call on the world: Let us choose rahma,” he says, referring to an Islamic term meaning compassion or caring for the other.
Pak Yahya’s organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, has about 50 million members across Indonesia.
— Raphael Ahren
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From the Liveblog of
Sunday, June 10, 2018
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